As we should all know by now, you don’t have to be infected with COVID-19 to be affected by COVID-19. I would imagine there may be some places in the world where neither have happened, but there can’t be many.
Here in the New Orleans area, our tourist-driven economy has been decimated. It’s been on life support for nearly a year, and the goal has shifted from getting better to just not letting it flatline. A lot of business owners, especially restauranteurs, feel as though they’re hanging on by their fingertips. Then a new regulation comes along like a steel toed size 15 Doc Marten to smash their fingers even further into the ledge.
Even THAT they will endure and with which comply, if the regulation is a thoughtful one that ends this nightmare and gets us back to normal again. That’s not necessarily the case with Mayor LaToya Cantrell's Mardi Gras regulations, which seem arbitrary and in some cases anything but science based.
We spoke with Howie Kaplan, owner of the Howlin’ Wolf, about the confusion. He best summed it up by telling us about how the rules allow a business across the street from his to sell chicken sandwiches but preclude his from doing so. I can’t understand how that makes scientific sense.
