NEW ORLEANS —
Whether it’s going to a Saints game or a festival, fall in New Orleans is a special time but on Monday it became even more apparent that these types of large gatherings will be different or simply cancelled this year because of the coronavirus, according to comments made by both Gov. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
“There are some things we are going to have to do differently in order to make sure we are not unnecessarily spreading the virus,” said Edwards when asked about the future of large gatherings in an afternoon press conference. “Under no circumstances will this fall look like last fall.”
Fearful of the further spread of Covid-19, Edwards said relaxing social distancing guidelines to allow large gatherings could put added demands on the state’s already overwhelmed healthcare system. In addition, the lack of a vaccine and therapeutic care has created even more challenges in Louisiana, a state with more than 1,300 deaths.
“Until we have a vaccine we are not going to have people acting just as they did last fall, said Edwards. “What the football games look like, what the different gatherings look like...I don’t know, but they aren’t going to look the same.”
The NFL is exploring the idea of having no fans in the stands during games while major festivals like Jazz Fest, previously pushed to the fall, and the popular Voodoo Music and Arts Experience have announced their cancellations. Other events, like the Poboy Festival or Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, have not officially announced plans for dealing with social distancing guidelines, though Mayor Cantrell has the ability to refuse permits. She made no changes to her statements from last week that events should be pushed back to 2021.
“I understand people want to get back to normal but, you know what, it really will be a new normal in this environment,” said Cantrell. "Based on the data and the well being of this community, festivals and large gatherings need to be pushed to 2021.”
Before these types of large scale events return as normal there should be low community spread over a period of time, widespread testing and -- in line with governor Edwards -- a vaccine, according to Dr. Ben Springgate, chief of community and population medicine at LSU Health.
“We have to have access to proven safe effective treatments that have been studied in clinical trials and potentially a vaccine,” said Springgate.
A vaccine for COVID-19 is still at least 12-18 months away, according to Springgate.
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