Why New Orleans Pushed Ahead With Mardi Gras, Even as It Planned for Coronavirus

A few days later, on March 9, the first presumptive coronavirus patient in Louisiana was identified in New Orleans — a resident of nearby Jefferson Parish who

was in a city hospital. Reports began surfacing of people in other states, including Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee, who had been to Mardi Gras and were testing positive for the virus.

The next day, Ms. Cantrell canceled a number of beloved street-level events that have traditionally served as raucous addenda to Mardi Gras — parades celebrating St. Joseph’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, and Super Sunday, in which the city’s Mardi Gras Indian tribes display their beaded and feathered suits.

By March 16, three people had died from complications of Covid-19 in Louisiana and there were 136 confirmed cases in the state. Gov. John Bel Edwards ordered the closures of bars, gyms, and cinemas, and limited restaurants to takeout and delivery service.

Dr. Avegno said city and state officials had moved as quickly as they could once they realized what they were facing.

“We shut down parades, we shut down schools — within a week, completely changing our way of life,” Dr. Avegno said. “I can’t think of anything more drastic than shutting down the bars of New Orleans.”

Over the next several weeks, the virus continued its unabated spread across Louisiana.

By Monday, state officials had reported more than 10,500 coronavirus cases in Orleans Parish and the adjacent suburb of Jefferson Parish. Across the state, at least 840 residents infected with the coronavirus have died.

Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta and Derek Kravitz, a data journalist at Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation, from New York.