NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)- Only days after the mask advisory and there were easily more people than masks on the people downtown, and differing opinions about the advisory.
NOLA resident Toni Conwell said, “I think its a bunch of baloney, and I’m cleaning that word up.”
Roger Smith, a visitor from Dallas said, “I think everyone should we a mask for a lot of reasons. It’s safe, it’s easy and when you think about it, 4 million people have died.
To be clear the mask advisory is not a mandate and it’s directed at folks indoors.
Many of the businesses downtown were adhering like the gift shop where people were asked to mask before entering.
Most of the folks we spoke with had no problem complying indoors.
Phylicia Foughty, a visitor from Arizona stated she was fully vaccinated and remarked, “I wear my mask and I stay protected because we’re protecting other people as well as ourselves.”
If the folks outside of the Cafe DuMonde are any indication, there’s certainly not a lot of social distancing going on, but that wasn’t a part of the mayor’s advisory.
There were only a handful of masks, but it’s a challenge to eat beignets with your mask on.
“It’s a good suggestion to keep those that haven’t been vaccinated safe, and those who have even safer,” said Atlanta visitor Stephen Williams.
Opinions ran the gamut from compliance to defiance.
We reached out to the mayor’s office, and they stated that “outside of the mask advisory, no additional pressure is being put on businesses to comply.”
As for whether the Delta variant has prompted more locals to get vaccinated, they replied “Hard to say – the data will lag a little bit so I don’t think we can know for sure. However, our partners are reporting increased numbers at vaccination sites this week, which is a great sign.”