US: New Orleans a hotspot for virus after Mardi Gras celebrations

Name: US: New Orleans a hotspot for virus after Mardi Gras celebrations
Uploaded: 23 Mar 2020, 07:00:00 AM
Duration: 01:26
Channel: TIMESOFINDIA.COM

10 views | Mar 23, 2020, 07:00:00 AM | AP

Less than a month after throngs of revelers crowded the streets of New Orleans for Mardi Gras, the streets are now nearly empty. Many businesses have shuttered and residents have been issued a "stay at home" mandate as the city becomes one of the nation's coronavirus hot spots. There's a good chance Mardi Gras was a factor in the spread of the virus in New Orleans. People flocked to New Orleans from across the globe for the festival on Feb. 25, which would have been within the incubation period for the virus, since people began testing positive for COVID-19 in early March. More than 500 people in Louisiana have tested positive for the virus as of Friday, and 14 Louisiana residents have died from COVID-19. While more than three-quarters of positive tests were in the New Orleans area, cases of the virus were showing up in nearly every metropolitan region of the state, and in 28 of Louisiana's 64 parishes.