( Reuters) – New Orleans is on track to end up being the next coronavirus epicenter in the United States, rushing hopes that less densely populated and warmer-climate cities would not be struck as hard by the pandemic, which summer months might see it subside.
A guy walks past a boarded up company on Frenchmen Street, following the outbreak of the coronavirus illness (COVID-19), in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. March 25,2020 REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman
The predicament of New Orleans – with the world’s highest development rate in coronavirus cases and where authorities have actually alerted healthcare facilities might collapse by April 4 – also raises worries it might be an effective driver in quickly spreading the virus throughout the south of the country.
New Orleans is the greatest city in Louisiana, the state with the third-highest case load of coronavirus in the United States on a per capita basis after the significant epicenters of New york city and Washington. The growth rate in Louisiana tops all others, according to a University of Louisiana at Lafayette analysis of international data, with the number of cases increasing by 30%in the 24 hours before noon on Wednesday. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump released a major federal catastrophe statement for the state, releasing federal funds and resources.
Some 70%of Louisiana’s 1,795 validated cases to date are in the New Orleans city area.
The perpetrator for the coronavirus in the Big Easy? Some blame Carnival.
” Mardi Gras was the best storm, it supplied the perfect conditions for the spread of this virus,” said Dr. Rebekah Gee, who up until January was the Health S