On Tuesday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the cancellation of public events leading into St. Patrick’s Day weekend amid rising public health concerns about COVID-19. 

As of Tuesday, March 10, Governor John Bel Edwards has confirmed three presumptive positive cases of COVID-19, more commonly known as the novel coronavirus, in Orleans Parish. While community members await confirmation of these cases, the city of New Orleans is taking precautions to protect the health and safety of residents and tourists. These developments follow the first presumptive case in Louisiana being announced by officials earlier this week.

While the identities of the presumptive COVID-19 patients have not been released, Cantrell shared that the patients are being treated at three different hospitals across New Orleans and that there is no clear connection between the three individuals. Officials are currently attempting to trace the origins of these cases. 

To minimize risk, Cantrell made an announcement at a press conference this afternoon that this week’s upcoming public events, including all St. Patrick’s Day parades in New Orleans and Uptown Super Sunday festivities, have been cancelled. 

According to Cantrell, the events are being cancelled in an attempt to be “proactive as it relates to preventing anyone else in our city coming down with COVID-19.”