World News – USA – Carnival 2021: Bars Closed, Bourbon Street Barricaded Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

New Orleans residents keep the spirit of Carnival alive with decorated house poses in place of the city’s iconic parades that were canceled as a coronavirus safety measure

NEW ORLEANS – Coronavirus-related restrictions on Bourbon Street access, shutters, and cold weather should prevent what the city normally desires at the end of the Carnival season – streets and shops full of night owls

Parades and parties on Carnival (Fat Tuesday) and on the days leading up to annual Lent usually attract more than a million people to the streets

But the parades have been canceled and Mayor LaToya Cantrell recently ordered bars to be closed.Even bars that were allowed to operate as restaurants with “conditional” food permits were closed for five days, starting on Friday for take-away drinks in “Go.” Cups are also banned – you no longer have to stroll through the French Quarter with a drink in hand

Bourbon Street should be closed to automobile and pedestrian traffic at 7 a.m. Access is restricted to residents, directors and employees, hotel guests and diners only

LINK: Up to 50000 COVID-19 cases can be traced back to Mardi Gras 2020, study results

Various estimates showed hotels are likely to be between a third and more than half full – well below the 90% -plus bookings seen in most years, and city and state officials almost warned tourists away

Mardi Gras beads are wrapped around the handrail of a house in Bywater on February 15, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is shutting down traditional Mardi Gras activities, New Orleans are decorating their homes and businesses for

“If people think they would come to Louisiana or New Orleans somewhere and get involved in activities they had before the pandemic, then they are wrong and frankly they are not welcome here to do so”” Gov John Bel Edwards said at a recent press conference

If crowd control measures work, the scene will be in contrast to last year’s Mardi Gras crowds, later blamed for an early COVID-19 outbreak in Louisiana

Mark Zeller, virologist and co-author of the new study, discusses the effects of Mardi Gras 2020 on the transmission of the novel coronavirus

Parades in Mobile, Alabama, where the country’s oldest Mardi Gras celebrations are held, were also canceled that year.There was no plan to close bars there, but some streets were supposed to be closed on Tuesday to control traffic and provide more seating and to enable outdoor service in restaurants and bars

Mardi Gras 2021, Mardi Gras