NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans' COVID-19 vaccine mandate will continue through Mardi Gras 2022, Mayor LaToya Cantrell's office announced on Tuesday.
Communications Director Beau Tidwell made the announcement at the mayor's office's weekly news update. Tidwell said that preliminary data collected from the Krewe of Boo showed that 93 percent of the crowd and 98 percent of float riders were vaccinated against the virus.
"We had a large parade and we did it safely. That is very encouraging news, and we want to make sure those conditions maintain: the high levels of vaccinations in the crowd and on the floats and that the vaccine mandate remains in place," Tidwell said.
Tidwell said the requirement to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter an indoor location will remain in effect through Mardi Gras 2022.
"That's the way we are going to get through this safely," Tidwell said.
City leaders have said that the Krewe of Boo, which paraded in October, was a test to see whether Carnival 2022 could go on as planned. Cantrell gave the green light last month but said that those plans could change if COVID-19 cases begin to climb again.
Coronavirus hospitalizations and cases in Louisiana have significantly declined after reaching record-breaking levels in mid-August. On Tuesday, Louisiana reported 209 patients hospitalized across the state with the virus, significantly lower than the more than 3,000 patients reported during a single day in August.
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