New Orleans officials plan to announce details of the easing of coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, as cases in the city have dropped in recent weeks.
“All the numbers are going in the right direction and we anticipate further easing of the guidelines,” City Hall spokesman Beau Tidwell said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The city of New Orleans will not join the rest of Louisiana in implementing Governor John Bel Edwards’ relaxed Phase 3 coronavirus restriction …
The new rules in New Orleans will reflect the city’s 1.5% positive rate and its approximately 30 new cases of the disease each day, data that represent a much better position compared to the peak of infections in January.
The loosened restrictions would come as vaccines continued to be distributed throughout the city. About 12% of people were fully vaccinated, while 21% received at least one dose of the vaccines.
Governor John Bel Edwards was expected on Tuesday afternoon to expand eligibility even further to include all residents at least 16 years of age who have certain medical conditions.
Once widely available, Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose vaccine should facilitate distribution of the vaccine in mass vaccination sites, such as the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. This location is not open daily due to the limited supply of vaccines.
New Orleans’ first mass vaccination site outside of a hospital setting opens Thursday, March 4, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and…
Tidwell said the set rules to be announced on Wednesday by Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Health Department director Dr. Jennifer Avegno are likely to be slightly different from those in the state, as has been the case throughout the pandemic.
Currently, in the city, internal meetings are limited to 75 people and external meetings can include up to 150 guests. Bars and breweries can serve residents with 25% of their internal capacity from 8 am to 11 pm
A year ago, New Orleans’ director of health, Jennifer Avegno, was sitting in a black swivel chair in her office on the eighth floor of City Hall. With a view …
Retail stores, beauty salons, barber shops and restaurants are restricted to 50% of their capacity. In all environments, masks and social distance are mandatory.
Tidwell said that even with the opening of the city, the authorities will continue to enforce the rules for residents and tourists.
Even with more people allowed to venture out, Tidwell said the city’s mask mandate is probably not going anywhere anytime soon.
“I can say that now, deep down, what we know is that masks make people safer,” he said.