Will Mardi Gras parades roll on the Coast during COVID surge? ‘We can’t live in fear.’
A number of the annual Mardi Gras celebrations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are set to carry on despite the rapid spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant.
Health officials say large gatherings are the surest way to transmit COVID, so the Gulf Coast’s extensive upcoming slate of parades, balls and Mardi Gras celebrations are likely to spread the virus, health officials say.
The city of Biloxi and Gulf Coast Carnival Association, two of the largest Mardi Gras parade planners on the Coast, said they plan to move forward with their celebrations while keeping a watchful eye on local COVID numbers.
“As of now we’re moving forward with everything,” Gulf Coast Carnival Association executive director Jennifer Schmidt said.
“We’ve got to get back to life, we can’t live in fear. While we are being cautious and monitoring daily. It could change tomorrow, or in 15 minutes. It just all depends.”
South Mississippi’s Mardi Gras festivities began Wednesday in Biloxi with the Twelfth Night Celebration, which follows the Coast and New Orleans’ cancellation of festivities in 2021 because of the pandemic.
“As of right now, no cancellations nor postponements of Mardi Gras parades have been announced by the city,” Biloxi spokesperson Cecilia Dobbs Walton said in a statement to the Sun Herald. “Mayor Gilich is continuing to watch the daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.”
Omicron spread is rampant across Mississippi
COVID cases are rapidly rising in Mississippi, where the highly-transmissible omicron variant is the dominant strain. Over the past two week period, almost 50,000 cases have occurred in the state, according to Mississippi State Epidemiologist Paul Byers.
“What’s driving the rapid increases that we’re seeing right now? Well, it’s primarily omicron. We know that omicron is much more infectious than the previous strains of COVID-19 that we’ve seen. Even more infectious than the delta variant. Right now, about 73% of our overall samples that are being sequences are omicron,” Byers said during a press conference Friday.
Mississippi in recent days has consistently hit record numbers of single-day cases recorded since the delta’s fourth wave. On Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Health reported 6,592 new coronavirus cases, the most the state has seen in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
On Friday, the state reported an additional 6,774 cases.
“Over the last several days, we’ve been reporting out over 6,000 to 7,000 additional cases on a daily basis,” Byers said.
Mardi Gras expected to further COVID spread
New Orleans experienced one of the earliest and fastest national COVID outbreaks stemming from Mardi Gras celebrations in 2020, which went ahead without precautions.
Byers on Friday warned that Mardi Gras celebrations in 2022 could mirror those of 2020, when the virus first entered the country and New Orleans became one of the first national hotspots following the March parades.
“Back in March of 2020, many of our first cases that we saw in the state were associated with individuals who participated in Mardi Gras. In New Orleans at the time was … one of the very first large outbreaks in the United States of COVID-19,” Byers said.
“Any time that you get folks together in crowded circumstances, there is a potential that there’s going to be transmission, there’s potential that there’s going to be cases.”
Byers warned that Mardi Gras attendees make sure they’re vaccinated and boosted — the best way to avoid transmission of omicron. He also said the celebrations should remain outdoors and masks are recommended.
“More than 70% of our deaths over the last month had been in unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated individuals. Only 2% of our deaths have occurred in individuals who’ve been fully vaccinated and have received a booster. That booster dose is going to continue to be important,” Byers said.
“Make sure you’re vaccinated and that you’re up-to-date with those vaccinations. Make sure that you’re wearing a mask. Don’t go to Mardi Gras if you’re sick.”
This article is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
