New Orleans mandates citywide masks, COVID vaccinations for city employees
(The Center Square) – New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has issued a citywide mask mandate and mandatory COVD-19 vaccine policy for all city workers and local government contractors.
Cantrell said her decisions were based on “exponential growth” of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations statewide.
“In order to quickly curb the dangerous and rapid spread of the Delta variant, an indoor mask mandate will be in effect immediately in Orleans Parish. Everyone, regardless of their vaccination status, should wear a mask indoors when with people who are not members of their immediate household,” a city news statement said Friday.
“Additionally, Mayor Cantrell announced that COVID-19 vaccines will be mandated for City of New Orleans employees and contractors who work for the City. Contractors have been notified and more information about how to prove vaccination status or access a vaccine will be made available to employees early next week” the statement said.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, Orleans Parish is rated “highest risk” on the department’s COVID-19 risk scale, along with every other parish in the state except for Claiborne and Tensas.
A review of the New York Times coronavirus data tracking website showed Orleans Parish, with a population of 388,000, had an average of 282 cases a day over a two-week period ending July 31. Eighty-seven hospitalizations and one death occurred from July 16-22, according to the most-recent data available.
Mask and vaccine mandates are not universally embraced. A pair of state legislative bills would have pre-empted local governments from imposing vaccine mandates and proof of vaccination ID cards, sometimes called vaccine “passports,” in Louisiana.
State lawmakers approved the bills – House Bill 498 and House Bill 349 – during the 2021 regular legislative session, but Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed them in July.
Both bills were recalled during a historic veto override session last month, though neither received a vote as the session ended abruptly without overturning a single veto.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry also is opposed to mandatory vaccines. Landry is challenging such policies in the state university system.
Edwards has deferred to local leaders regarding masks, social distancing and indoor and outdoor gathering policies since lifting an unpopular statewide mask mandate April 28, but that may change. Louisiana ranks among the worst states in the nation regarding COVID-19 safety. One recent study called Louisiana the “least safest” state.
Edwards issued updated guidance last week that strongly recommended wearing masks indoors. Shortly after, two of Edwards’ staffers tested positive for the coronavirus.
New Orleans is in a “Modified Phase Three” public health designation. If Cantrell moves to Phase Two or Phase One, many restrictions city residents endured last year could return.
The city’s low vaccination rate is of primary concern, officials said.
NOLA Ready, the city’s joint COVID-19 information initiative with the U.S. Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, reports, “Only slightly more than 51% of all New Orleanians have been fully vaccinated. Furthermore, there are several census tracts in the City with vaccination rates below 50%.”
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