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COVID numbers look good for Mardi Gras 2022, New Orleans officials say

“We have not seen a bump in our city numbers. We have not seen a bump in the university trackers, We haven't seen a bump in the public school numbers..."

NEW ORLEANS — The mask mandate is lifted, crowds are going to Saints games, and conventions are returning to the city.

And two weeks ago for Halloween, there was a parade through the city. So what does that mean for our local COVID numbers?

It is looking like there is positive news about COVID numbers coming out of the Krewe of Boo parade two weeks ago. 

“The day of the parade we did PCR testing on the route, and of the krewe, and none of those turned up positive,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, City of New Orleans Health Director.

That involved 60 random tests. And in a survey of 1,200, only two percent said they had felt sick in the three days prior.

“I think the message is out: If you're not feeling well don't come to the parade.”

Follow-up surveys are due back Monday evening. There will be no results from take-home test kits they gave out, because the manufacturer recalled them. 

They had been sitting on container ships too long with the supply chain shortage. So in the coming days the City Health Department will check those surveys, and state testing data bases, to see if numbers went up. So far, it looks good.

“We have not seen a bump in our city numbers. We have not seen a bump in the university trackers, We haven't seen a bump in the public school numbers, which again is another marker. So those are all making us feel really encouraged that we're not going to see a big event,” Dr. Avegno predicted.

She says the reasons for good numbers: We are not in a surge so there is less virus in the community. There is a vaccine mandate for events like Saints games.  And the high vaccine rate. Adults in Orleans are at 75 percent. That's giving us herd immunity.

“That's why we don't have measles outbreaks at parades or Saints games either, because we have a really high level of community protection,” she said.

When asked if Christmas and Mardi Gras and Tourism coming back are looking better in her view,” Dr. Avegno replied, “It really seems like things are coming back, and they're coming back because our rates are very low, and there is this layer of protection with the vaccine mandate.”

And with adult boosters and children now eligible for the vaccine, that layer of protection could get stronger. And Dr. Avegno says there is still a school mask mandate because the vaccine rate for children and teens is only 18 percent.

New data, she points out, show there are fewer outbreaks in schools with masking.

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