COVID-19: March 15, 2020

Local impact:

• Second death recorded in Orleans Parish - and it was a friend of the Mayor of New Orleans

• This is good news: Mayor announces at 3 pm press conference that Orleans parish is partnering with federal govt for a pilot program to set up drive-thru testing sites in the city. Still working out details.

• Returned to work last night after being off for 11 days. Very unsettling to be in a room full of people at the moment we should ALL be social distancing.

• I believe that the local authorities need to shut down bars and restaurants in New Orleans.

• Police were driving down Bourbon Street last night urging people to disperse. Nobody really did.

• Police also broke up a bustling St Patrick’s party at a local bar in the Irish Channel.

• A 45-year-old Kenner man is in critical care and isolation. He has been given a paralytic drug, sedated and put on a ventilator.

• PatIOI’IBrien’sI closed one hour early last night. Open today.

Happening now: Our @NOPDNews will continue to enforce the ban on large gatherings all over the City. Do your part in this critical #COVID19 moment!
Limiting interaction will SAVE LIVES in #NewOrleans. #BourbonStreet #FrenchQuarter

Find info online at https://t.co/2iY1VZzedn pic.twitter.com/EzQQBKp8Or

— Mayor LaToya Cantrell (@mayorcantrell) March 15, 2020

Cases:

National

Source	Count	Increase of	Time
CDC	1,629	0	no update since Friday
J.H.Univ.	3,244	584	1:20 pm update
NYT	2,815	372	10:26 am update

Louisiana

Where?	Count	Increase of	Deaths	Time
Statewide	103	26	2	5:30 pm update
Orleans	75	22	2
Jefferson	14	3

Articles:

CNN: Infected people without symptoms might be driving the spread of coronavirus more than we realized.

NYT: “Please, Don’t Go Out to Brunch Today”: Gathering in groups right now is selfish and puts the lives of others at risk.

Boston Globe: A coronavirus cautionary tale from Italy: Don’t do what we did. Many of us were too selfish to follow suggestions to change our behavior. Now we’re in lockdown and people are needlessly dying.

Washington Post: Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve” - with great graphics

The CDC noted that lab tests have proven to be reliable and CDC confirmation of positive lab results is no longer needed. To reflect this change, results are considered positive instead of presumptive positive. pic.twitter.com/fitXREWQa0

— Louisiana Department of Health (@LADeptHealth) March 15, 2020

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