OPINION: Will Louisiana wake up now that COVID-19 has hit LSU football? – Daily Advertiser

LSU Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron.(Photo: Jason Getz, USA TODAY Sports)

BATON ROUGE "It ain'tover, until it's over."

The late Yankee catcher great Yogi Berra was not talking about COVID-19 when he said that in the summer of 1973. He was talking baseball as the manager of the New York Mets, who proved him prophetic as they rallied from 12.5 games out of first in the National League East in July to win the division and later advance to the World Series.

Too bad Berra is not around today to deliver a public service message in whichhe could repeat perhaps the most famous of his multitude of Yogi-isms.

Someone needs to get that message across concerning the coronavirus pandemic that, yes, is still a pandemic.

Pandemic hits LSU:At least 30 football players quarantined

"People keep talking about a second wave," Dr. Anthony Fauci,the director of theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the preeminent authority on COVID-19, told the Wall Street Journal last week.

"We're still in a first wave," said Fauci, who has served every United States president since Ronald Reagan in 1984 and helped createPresident George W. Bush's successful emergency plan for AIDS relief in2003.

"The reality is every Louisianan needs to do a gut check on whether he or shehas been slacking off on taking proper precautions," Gov.John Bel Edwards said on Thursday as the first wave rolled onward in Louisiana last week.

There were another 870 new cases and 20 deaths reported in the state on Saturday. Meanwhile, six states reported record increases in COVID-19 cases last week - Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Nevada.

More: Louisiana coronavirus cases continue week-long spike Saturday

More: Map: Where coronavirus has spread in Louisiana by parish

It is not a good idea to just say something is over because you want it to be over.

Maybe another bit of news on Saturday will get Louisianans and everyone hopefully to wake up and put on their masks and stop pretending it's over, or acting out over some sense of rebellion that is more juvenile than anything.

At least 30 LSU football players have recently been quarantined because they have tested positive for COVID-19 or have had contact with someone who did.

They are all young and in great shape, so they likely will be done with the virus in a couple of days if they have not already gotten over it. But that's not the point. What it is is more proof that the pandemic is not close to being over.

Maybe the fact that COVID-19 has now hit home in Louisiana at that most sacred part of the house LSU Football people will get it that it is not over.

LSU athletic director Scott Woodward said on ESPN's Paul Finebaum Show on Friday that people going to LSU football games at Tiger Stadium this fall may be required to wear a mask.

Rebuilding America: LSU football season ticket sales soar amid coronavirus pandemic

"This isn't a political statement," Woodward said. His comments echoed thoseof Fauci, who said this about his job:

"You stay completely apolitical and non-ideological. Im a scientist, and Im a physician. And thats it."

When Woodward wears a mask, he is not thinking of his health as much as those of others. He gets it.

"This is a health statement," he said. "We're trying to save lives here. I think about my parents. I think about elderly folks and people with immune systems that are compromised. We have to do these things to curtail this pandemic."

In an interview last week with USA TODAY-Louisiana, LSU associate athletic director for health and wellness Shelly Mullenix said she expected to see several LSU football players test positive for COVID-19.

LSU Plan: Help everyone not get sick

"Sure, there will be some, maybe many. It's a pandemic," she said as players were being tested. "We're prepared for every scenario. We want to keep our community healthy, not just us."

LSUmay not have expected30, but Mullenix and company were ready and swiftly quarantined everyone involved, which is sort of like applying one large mask over the football facility. The players will be fine, but they do not need to be out and about where they could infect others.

Meanwhile, the Tigerland bar circuit near campus should be off limits to all LSU football players and other student-athletes. In fact, for the time being it is not a good idea for anyone to go there.

State health officials on Friday said there was a cluster of COVID-19 outbreaks stemming from patrons at bars in and near the Tigerland area, which is where some of the LSU football players had been frequenting after just returning to campus June 9.

LSU is not unique in the rash of COVID-19 cases. At Clemson last week, 21 football players tested positive. Kansas State had 14 test positive, while Texas had 13.

The first wave continues, perhaps because people overreacted when Phase One of the prevention plan became Phase Two early this month in Louisiana. Suddenly, it was TGIPT Thank God It's Phase Two throughout the state.

I saw more unmasked people than I see masked people at Mardi Gras. They were everywhere. They were in large groups in backyards. They were not social distancing. There were fewer masks at grocery stories.They thought it was over or close to it.

Not a good strategy. Former LSU pass game coordinator Joe Brady would have kept his mask on and kept passing disinfectant.

It ain't over, until it's over. True. But forget that. We're not even at halftime yet.

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OPINION: Will Louisiana wake up now that COVID-19 has hit LSU football? - Daily Advertiser