re: Officials say Louisiana's growth trajectory similar to Italy

This is entirely due to Mardi Gras.

We had one of the largest gatherings in the world, perfect for spread of the virus, at the worst possible time. It’s likely that thousands of Mardi Gras attendees had the virus, but no one in the US was taking it seriously at the time. Who knows how many New Orleanians those thousands infected at Mardi Gras. And then basically two weeks from Mardi Gras until people/government started taking any sort of measures. Think about how much the virus spread in the two weeks after Mardi Gras. And we’re just starting to see those cases. The post Mardi Gras cases won’t peak for about a week or two

There’s something brutally ironic about the city’s most famed event and biggest money maker being its downfall.