BATON ROUGE - The governor will officially extend Louisiana's current "phase 2" order for another 14 days once it expires Friday.

During a news briefing discussing Hurricane Laura Wednesday, Governor John Bel Edwards said he would extend the current order for two weeks. Phase 2 sets business capacity at 50%, closes bars, requires masks and six-feet social distancing.

Phase 2 would then be scheduled to end in its current form around Sept. 11, about two weeks before the start of the LSU football season. The governor previously said he expects the university to announce a plan for stadium attendance roughly two to three weeks before the season-opener Sept. 26.

The governor said with nearly 25% of the state's population returning to school and colleges, interacting more than during the initial wave of coronavirus, health officials must watch how new cases may develop over the next few weeks.  He was also concerned how people taking shelter with others to ride out an impending hurricane may spawn virus growth. 

Click HERE to listen to the governor's entire interview.  He discusses the state's reopening plans at the 6:40 mark. 

Click HERE for the latest on coronavirus in Louisiana.