Louisiana’s GOP Gov. Bel Edwards said Sunday there “never any hint” that New Orleans should have shut down its annual Mardi Gras amid the coronavirus outbreak.
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Edwards was grilled about the explosion of COVID-19 cases linked to the popular gathering.
“It’s likely that Mardi Gras seeded” the outbreak in the hard-hit city, he conceded.
“There was never any hint from anyone... that there should be any consideration to downsizing or canceling Mardi Gras,” he said, adding there were 15 cases reported around the country at the time. “It’s Monday morning quarterbacking.”
“Right now we need to focus on going forward,” he said.
Edwards said the people of Louisiana have been told to stay at home and practice social distancing if they go outside.
“My point to the people of Louisiana is don't look for us to come enforce this, we need you need to take it upon yourself to comply,” he said.
He also predicted the outbreak could overwhelm health care system there by end of first week in April.
"We obviously have a spread that is growing faster than we would like to see,” he said. “We remain on a trajectory to overwhelm our capacity to deliver health care by the end of the first week in April."
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