NEW ORLEANS — It was the first parade in the city since the pandemic lockdowns. And now the Krewe of Boo parade on October 23, could determine if Mardi Gras parades roll next year.
So when will we know? We won't get an answer for a few weeks.
It's a first for the city of New Orleans, an epidemiologic study of parade-goers. Saturday night at the Krewe of Boo parade, you could get a coronavirus test and sign up to let the city health department follow your COVID status.
Ninety-three percent of the folks that they surveyed were vaccinated, and more than half of those people were from out-of-town, which says there's visitors coming from elsewhere to celebrate here but they are coming vaccinated. They are coming to celebrate safely,” said Beau Tidwell, Director of Communications for New Orleans.
As many as 1,200 people took time out of celebrating to volunteer.
“We thought maybe if we're lucky, we'll get 400, but instead we were able to get 1,200, which is great,” noted Isis Casanova, Public Information Officer for the New Orleans Health Department.
Along with the 1,200, another 150 members of the Krewe of Boo joined the study. All were given coronavirus test kits to take over the weekend, and then another to test if they are positive or negative in two weeks.
“On the 31st of October, we're, that's when we'll start getting information from the first test, at home test, and then the 7th of November, that's when we do the second test. We'll get information from that test,” said Casanova.
This is all a first step to seeing if big events, like the upcoming Bayou Classic in a month, and then Carnival, next year, will work without being superspreaders.
“We're keeping our fingers crossed that the data is good for us so we can have Mardi Gras and continue having larger events,” Casanova added.
So far in general, numbers are still trending downward. On average 26 new cases a day in Orleans Parish, that's a 1.1 positivity rate, with 60.3 percent of people vaccinated. The city is hoping the numbers go down even more as young children qualify for a vaccine. Right now, the city mask mandate is for indoors and large gatherings. That policy is not tied to any state changes.
“We're not necessarily moving in lockstep with the state. Throughout this pandemic and throughout this response, we have as the mayor's consistently said, we've been guided by the data, not the date,” said Tidwell.
So for now, it's a wait-and-see for what numbers come in.
And even though the state has lifted its mask mandate, the city says its mask mandate will not change right away. The mayor and health department want time to look over the numbers and trends.