Businesses brace for omicron at Mardi Gras
(6 Jan 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS New Orleans - 6 January 2022 1. R-L pan from bakery sign to customers in line 2. Customers at walk-up window to bakery 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Chaya Conrad, Owner of Bywater Bakery: "And this year the thing is we got a new spike and we had to cancel our big party. We were planning on it but we did cancel the big party. We got a piano truck. We got a couple of piano players. So we're not doing nothing. But we are definitely not doing the big, big to-do this year." ++PARTIALLY COVERED++ 4. Signs outside a bakery 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nancy Thacker, New Orleans resident: "Last year I didn't leave my house. I haven't put these pants on for two years. So I put them on this morning and burst into tears." 6. Tight of bakery items in display case STORYLINE: Vaccinated, masked and ready-to-revel New Orleans residents began ushering in Carnival season Thursday with plans for a rolling party on the city's historic streetcar line, an annual march honoring Joan of Arc in the French Quarter and a collective, wary eye on coronavirus statistics. Carnival officially begins each year on Jan. 6 — the 12th day after Christmas — and, usually, comes to a raucous climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 1 this year. Thursday's planned festivities come two years after a successful Mardi Gras became what officials later realized was an early Southern superspreader of COVID-19; and nearly a year after city officials canceled 2021 parades. This year, the party is going on despite rapidly rising COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant. Various bakery owners are hoping the careful return of Mardi Gras, with a few downsized events, will involve participants respecting safety protocols. "And this year the thing is we got a new spike and we had to cancel our big party. We were planning on it but we did cancel the big party. We got a piano truck. We got a couple of piano players. So we're not doing nothing. But we are definitely not doing the big, big to-do this year," said Chaya Conrad, owner of Bywater Bakery. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: [email protected] (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
