New Orleans bars ordered shut for Mardi Gras due to COVID-19

The pandemic has turned Mardi Gras into Mardi Blah.

Bars in New Orleans will shut and pedestrian travel will be restricted ahead of the festival, also known as Fat Tuesday, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Friday.

The rules are set to take effect in the Big Easy on Feb. 12 and to last through Mardi Gras day, which falls on Feb. 16.

The city has seen coronavirus cases fall since a frightening early January peak, but the approach of the annual festival has raised concerns that celebratory gatherings could accelerate virus spread.

“We were all hopeful that we could strike the necessary balance: having both a safe Mardi Gras and a fun Mardi Gras,” Cantrell said in a news conference.

But the 48-year-old mayor said the emergence of new, contagious variants and recent large crowds in the city’s famous French Quarter underscored the health challenges presented by Mardi Gras. In the French Quarter, packaged liquor sales will be banned, according to the government.

Cantrell acknowledged that some people would be disappointed, but she said she would “rather be accused of doing too much than doing too little.”

Bars have been ordered shut in New Orleans beginning next Friday as Mardi Gras approaches.

Fat Tuesday typically brings funseeking crowds to Louisiana’s largest city, which holds parades and parties. In November, the city called off the parades for 2021.

Last year’s celebration took place after COVID-19 began to spread in the U.S. but before the March wave of cancellations ground travel to a halt. The surge of visitors was thought to have worsened New Orleans’ outbreak.

As of Friday, the city was logging a seven-day average of 116 new cases per day, according to city data, and more than 70% of the city’s hospital beds were in use. The city has tallied 739 coronavirus deaths over the past year.

Cantrell said the state of the pandemic left her no choice but to drop the damper on the typically joyous season in her city.

“The costs are simply too high,” she said.