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- New Orleans is closing down bars and banning to-go drinks ahead of Mardi Gras.
- The new restrictions will go into effect February 12 in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
- The announcement comes after large crowds were spotted in the French Quarter last weekend.
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Every winter, about 1.4 million revelers flock to New Orleans in its famed Mardi Gras celebrations, holding drinks in one hand and clutching strings of colorful beads in the other.
Every winter, that is, except this one.
On Friday, New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell announced in a press conference that starting February 12 through Mardi Gras Day on the 16th, bars throughout the city will be closed and the sale of to-go drinks will be prohibited.
Mardi Gras is the period of “feasting and fun” that occurs between January 6 and Fat Tuesday, according to the official Mardi Gras website. New Orleans has an open-container law that makes it legal to carry drinks through the streets of the French Quarter as long as the containers are not made of glass, so part of that “fun” involves strolling around with larger-than-your-head cups of booze.
Sales of packaged liquor in the French Quarter will also be prohibited, and no foot or vehicle traffic will be permitted on the French Quarter’s famous Bourbon, Frenchmen, and Decatur streets from 7 p.m. through 3 a.m., with the exception of residents, hotel guests, and employees.
The new restrictions come after large crowds were spotted in the French Quarter this past weekend.
Late last Saturday, a 14-second video emerged on Twitter of revelers dancing in close proximity, many without masks. Cantrell's office responded to video, calling it "unacceptable."
—🆕 Orleans ⚜️witter (@neworleanstl) January 31, 2021
Cantrell previously announced in November that New Orleans' Mardi Gras parades would not take place in 2021 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Social gatherings are currently limited to 25 people outdoors and 10 indoors under phase 2 of New Orleans' reopening.
"The magnitude of the additional restrictions, coupled with the cancellation late last year of all parades and balls, is unprecedented in the modern era of Carnival," Cantrell wrote in a Twitter thread on Friday. "But so too is the public-health crisis New Orleans faces amid a slow rollout of vaccines and reports of new, more transmissible coronavirus variants that are spreading in the city."
Cantrell concluded her thoughts on Twitter with a message to those who are upset about the restrictions. "When it comes to the health of our people, I'd rather be accused of doing too much than not enough," she said.