Details on the reopening of the New Orleans area

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Restaurants, churches, gyms and some businesses will be allowed to have limited capacity as New Orleans begins a phased-in approach to reopening on Saturday.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell addressed those and other details of the plan during a radio town hall on WBOK AM Tuesday.

New Orleans has been under a stay-at-home order since mid-March. Although the state and Jefferson Parish are relaxing similar orders on Friday, Cantrell said the proclamation she signed last month that extended the city’s order to Saturday will stay in place.

Restaurants can open at 25% capacity and will be required to take reservations or get the name and contact information for walk-in customers. Gyms and fitness centers can open at the same capacity, with personal training allowed, but no group classes, locker rooms, showers or spas.

Churches can reopen at 25% capacity or cap their congregations at 100 people – whichever is the smaller number. Cantrell said choirs are not allowed.

Stores with exterior entrances are limited to 25% occupancy, but stores within malls with no exterior entrances will remain closed. Beauty salons, barber shops and nail salons are limited to the same occupancy and must take reservations/appointments. Office buildings and businesses are limited to 25% occupancy, and remote work is encouraged.

Patrons of businesses and churches will be required to wear facial coverings, she said. Masks are not required for those exercising outside.

Businesses prohibited from reopening in Phase 1 include spas, massage parlors, tattoo shops, casinos and video poker, children’s museums, live entertainment and event venues and bars without food permits. French Quarter tours will not be allowed, Cantrell said, and neither will second lines, parades, block parties or other large gatherings and events. Contact sports are prohibited, and guidelines for the city’s swimming pools will be put in place as summer camps begin in June, she said.

“Think of it like a faucet, and we are taking a drip-drip approach,” she said. “If we do not do well in this first phase, we will not be moving on to another. We will shut that faucet off.”

The Phase 1 guidelines say that private gatherings should still be limited to no more than “a reasonable household size,” and residents – particularly seniors and people with medical conditions – should stay home except for essential needs and permitted activities.

For more information on what can and cannot reopen, visit the city’s website.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the city’s health department director, said that if the reopening results in an increase in the positive number of coronavirus cases, “we need to see them come back down for several weeks” in order to continue Phase 1.

Cantrell said residents will need to “be mindful of where you go” so that if they hear from a contact tracer to determine whether they have been in close contact with someone who tested positive, they can give accurate information.

“Take notes so that if anything happens, you will be able to tell the contact tracer,” she said. “We all have a responsibility and a role to play when it comes to contact tracing.”

She did not mention a mandate for all business owners to keep track of customers, a plan that received some pushback last week. Avegno said Monday the city is following the state’s lead and will modify if needed. The state has not required businesses to log customers.

Business owners are implementing new safety measures as they prepare to bring employees back to work.

Guy Williams, president and CEO of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co., said the bank will have no more than 10 people in a branch at any given time. A greeter will be at the door counting the number of customers.

He said customers can wear masks if they would like, which creates unchartered territory for banks.

“Normally, you wouldn’t let anyone in a bank wearing a mask but now that’s going to be fine,” said Williams, who said a reasonable coronavirus mask would be permitted. He said the top half of the face is what’s most identifiable on security footage.

Plastic “sneeze guard” dividers will be in place between tellers. Hand sanitizing stations will also be available. Tellers will wear gloves to count money and have a Gulf Coast Bank logo mask.

“We’ll also have a ‘Walmart greeter’ at the door keeping track of folks,” he said.

Typical breakrooms where tellers and bankers usually congregate will be off limits. He said that will have to wait until Phase 2. Blue stripes will be placed outside on the sidewalk if a line is needed, he said. Tellers will have scheduled times to wash their hands.

“It’s going to be an interesting world,” Williams said. “We’re ready for it, and I think the customers are ready to come back.”

Restaurants like BB King’s Blues Club-New Orleans on Decatur Street are optimistic to return. BB King’s last day of curbside service was March 21.

Ivy Robinson, director of sales, said the pandemic has had a massive impact on the business.

“On a positive note, we have been able to assist our house musicians while we’ve been closed which is incredibly important to us,” Robinson said. “We have also used this time to freshen up our space and keep things moving internally.”

Pythian Market is also looking forward to a full reopening. In the meantime, the food hall in downtown New Orleans will continue offering to-go orders and deliveries and is waiting to hear whether its staff counts toward the 25% allowed capacity, said Victoria Lacayo, event sales manager.

In Jefferson Parish, officials are following the state’s lead by allowing restaurants and coffee shops to reopen at 25% capacity beginning Friday. Stores with exterior entrances at malls can reopen, as can barber shops and hair salons. Churches can reopen at 25% capacity as well, Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said.

People who use public transportation will be required to wear facial coverings. Some outdoor exercise facilities like tennis courts, batting cages, dog parks and disc golf can reopen.

For more information on the parish’s reopening guidelines, click here.

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