Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said there's an inherent computability problem with Mardi Gras as we know it and this pandemic.
"A successful carnival, how we judge it in prior times is high crowds, we want our hotel rooms packed, we want the music industry to be very involved, we want crowded bars, we want crowded restaurants, we want the people who stay in hotels to go shopping."
Those are all things Sheng said doesn't "go with COVID."
Sheng said it is likely that Mardi Gras 2020 helped spread the coronavirus around the community, contributing to the New Orleans area being a hot spot for the pandemic in its early days.
"So the question as a community is, knowing what we know, you know, is it appropriate to do," Sheng said, "and again, it's three months away. I know that krewes need to start making decisions and we're very much in communication with them but it is difficult and honestly that's the best assessment I can give of what I think of Carnival this year."
