Mardi Gras a 'perfect storm' for coronavirus spread in New Orleans

If you have never been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras it's a blast. THe crowds are huge and your packed in like sardines.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the "Big Easy" famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the United States.

Bourbon Street, the normally bustling heart of the French Quarter, is eerily quiet, its music silenced and its bars and restaurants shuttered.

Health experts and state officials believe it is the month-long street party in February known as Mardi Gras which contributed to the severity of the outbreak in the city of some 400,000 people on the Mississippi River.

"Mardi Gras was the perfect storm for the spread of this virus," said Rebekah Gee, Louisiana's former health secretary.

"Not only did we have people in floats, people in parties, but people from all over the world came here," Gee told the MSNBC network.

"Unfortunately, people were throwing beads, sharing drinks," she said of the tradition of revellers on floats tossing necklaces of plastic beads to crowds packing the streets.

"And they weren't only throwing beads, they were likely throwing COVID-19," Gee said.
More at the links..
[link to www.straitstimes.com (secure)]

[link to www.foxnews.com (secure)]

[link to www.telegraph.co.uk (secure)]