New Orleans lifting mask mandate amid falling infection numbers

New Orleans is lifting its indoor mask mandate amid falling infection numbers, following the state’s move to drop its statewide mask mandate. 

Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Wednesday that starting Friday, masks would only be required on public transportation, in schools and in health facilities. All other indoor spaces will not require masks.

The shift comes as cases have significantly fallen in the city and after the implementation of policies requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or negative coronavirus test to enter certain businesses.

Cantrell said those entry policies will remain in place but that businesses can now accept a PCR or antigen test, which provide rapid results. 

“The indoor mask mandate that was in place over the past several months helped us reduce the surge in cases we saw due to the Delta variant,” Jennifer Avegno, director of the city’s health department, said in a statement.

“Even though the numbers are currently low, we must remind our residents that this pandemic is not over and remains dangerous for all that may come in contact with the virus,” she added.

The city currently has 75 percent of its eligible population fully vaccinated and 60 percent of its total population fully vaccinated.

Coronavirus numbers have gone down around Louisiana, prompting the governor to drop the statewide mask mandate on Tuesday.

“After sustained improvement across the state in new cases, test positivity & hospitalizations, I will lift Louisiana’s statewide mask mandate in all settings except for K-12 schools, which may opt out as long as they continue implementing existing CDC quarantine guidance,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said when announcing the rescinded mask mandate.