NEW ORLEANS — The perils of reopening business in the coronavirus era were on display Monday at the Harvey Office of Motor Vehicles.
Pent up demand from nearly two months of closures sent drivers flocking to the 11 offices that were opened statewide, with some people reporting waits of several hours in the hot sun.
At the Harvey OMV things were even worse, as people waiting in line told Nola.com that they were told the office was closed after someone who had been in contact with a person infected with coronavirus that had entered the building.
The office was closed for cleaning and could signal a new and troubling normal for businesses - the possibility that just one person who has had contact with one person who has coronavirus could shut it down for a large scale cleaning, leaving customers frustrated and employers paying workers who aren't able to serve customers.
The OMVs began offering limited services at 11 locations across the state, including: issuance/renewal of driver licenses and/or identification cards, ordering a duplicate title, renewing vehicle registrations, and title transfers.
People were encouraged to go online at www.expresslane.org to do business that could be handled there, like driver license renewals, identification card renewals, official driving records, and duplicate registrations.
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