NEW ORLEANS – On Monday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a statement, reminding residents that Orleans Parish will continue to observe “Phase One” guidelines beyond the June 5 date cited by the state government.

Orleans was an epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and the communities were “disproportionately impacted by the fatalities that resulted.”

Local and national public health officials believe additional time and data is required following the “Phase 1″ opening date and mass gatherings in recent weeks, before Orleans can safely move forward to “Phase Two”.

“Orleans Parish will not move into ‘Phase Two’ this Friday. As we have said throughout this pandemic: we are watching the data, not the date. We don’t yet have sufficient data to authorize opening up further at this point,” said Mayor Cantrell.

“All of our decisions must be grounded in science and guided by the bedrock of public health: keeping our people safe. We look forward to the return of visitors — but for that to happen, we have to be able to ensure New Orleans is the safest city to come to.

That means being deliberate, and waiting until we have two to three weeks of additional data and the full confidence of our public health officials that restrictions can be further eased in a safe way.”