SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — Mayor Adrian Perkins has issued a mask advisory for the City of Shreveport to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 and the highly contagious Delta variant.

During a news conference, Friday morning at LSU Health Shreveport Mayor Perkins announced that a mask advisory was in effect and encouraged everyone to wear masks in indoor settings due to a surge in the number of COVID cases in Northwest Louisiana.

Perkins said that the Shreveport City Council is also discussing a mask mandate for the city if COVID cases get out of control.

Meanwhile, Dr. Martha Whyte pushed back in the briefing on some of the reasons people have said they won’t wear a mask, including claiming studies they say show masks don’t work.

Whyte said, “Me wearing my mask alone is not going to protect me completely. What, about 60% it will protect me. You wearing your mask raises that about 80%. We add the distance, now we’re adding up into the 90 percentile of safety for the two of us. That’s how masks work. We can all subvert, pervert the knowledge that’s out there to make it so that this is why I shouldn’t have to do this. The simple truth is you should do it because it’s what’s right. It’s what’s right. If we’re going to get through this pandemic without people suffering, without closures of businesses, without people dying, then we need to do what’s right.”

Mayor Perkins also issued the following statement:

“Since the onset of this public health emergency, we have relied on our medical experts for guidance. They are now warning us of the threat that the highly transmissible Delta variant poses to our unvaccinated residents. Ask your neighbors and friends to wear a mask in public to save lives and help keep our businesses open.”