VIDEO: Rats swarm city’s streets as coronavirus precautions leave them empty
As the most reliable and balanced news aggregation service on the internet, DML News App offers the following information published by CBSNEWS.COM:
Precautions put in place to slow the rise of coronavirus cases in New Orleans has inadvertently led to a rat problem for the Louisiana city. With restaurants closed save for take-out service, far less food waste is being discarded in the city’s alleyways, driving the local rodent population out into the open to search for scraps.
New Orleans’ famous Mardi Gras celebration brought thousands of tourists to the city, and medical experts believe it might be a big factor in the city’s COVID-19 outbreak. Now with Bourbon Street’s famous bars all closed and people social distancing, videos show dozens of rats scurrying through the empty streets.
The article goes on to state the following:
“I turn the corner, there’s about 30 rats at the corner, feasting on something in the middle of the street,” one local restauranteur told CBS News’ Omar Villafranca. He said he had “never” seen anything like it before.
“What we have seen is these (social-distancing) practices are driving our rodents crazy,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, according to NOLA.com.
NOLA reports that Cantrell stressed the need to protect the local homeless population against the “increasingly brazen vermin.”
From NOLA:
“We are seeing in some places elevated activity, and that’s why we are here,” Riegel said. “Our goal is for the next couple of months to hit it real hard here in the French Quarter and other commercial areas.”
Riegel said crews will be coming through once a week.
“These rats are hungry, so we want them to eat our bait,” she said. “We’re going to put a lot of pressure for at least the next month, or (until) we start to see consumption tail off.”
When the [tourists are] away the [rats 🐀🐀🐀] will… take over?
Here’s what New Orleans is doing to prevent that from happening ⤵https://t.co/mWFkJdFuKr
— NOLA.com (@NOLAnews) March 23, 2020
The rats in the French Quarter are running wild on vacant Bourbon Street.
Credit: New Orleans Insider Tours.https://t.co/b2Y4OKvEiu pic.twitter.com/p0FNTcGTg8— Mike Mills (@Mike504Saints) March 21, 2020
Because restaurants are closed, & there are fewer food scraps for them to feed on, hungry rats are scurrying around the streets of New Orleans.
With GOP Senators currently at home, the same effect is expected to occur shortly in Washington.https://t.co/ks4h9IjfGB
— Dr. David A. Lustig (@drdave1999) March 28, 2020
With fewer people visiting New Orleans due to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s making way for some new activity from rodents. https://t.co/ddyZXzv1FD
— abc27 News (@abc27News) March 25, 2020
New Orleans streets are overtaken by RATS after tourists empty out of the city during the coronavirus outbreak https://t.co/HVr4WSRk2N
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) March 28, 2020
The latest COVID-19 stats (at time of publication of this story):
- Louisiana Coronavirus Cases: 3,315
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Louisiana Deaths: 137
- Global Coronavirus Cases: 662,402
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Global Deaths: 30,829
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Global Recovered: 141,465
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US Coronavirus Cases: 123,271
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US Coronavirus Deaths: 2,202
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US Recovered: 3,231
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