After a year of unusually quiet streets, second lines are returning to New Orleans.
The city revised its COVID-19 restrictions late Wednesday afternoon, lifting the ban on second lines and parades starting Friday. That means the pre-pandemic permitting process has been restored, and you might soon hear the sound of a brass band marching through your neighborhood.
In other changes, gathering size limits have also been amended. Indoor and outdoor events can now go to 100 percent capacity if masks are required or if everyone is either vaccinated for COVID-19 or has a negative test within 72 hours of the event.
Gyms can now move to 100 percent capacity and time limits for alcohol sales have been scrapped, as have requirements that limit tables in restaurants and require six feet of space between tables.
The city is averaging 20 new cases of the coronavirus a day, with a test positivity rate of 1.7percent. The Orleans Parish death toll stands at 793 people as of Tuesday.
