Mobile mayor brushes aside questions about calls to cancel Mardi Gras

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    MOBILE, AL (WALA) — Under pressure to cancel Mardi Gras, Mayor Sandy Stimpson on Tuesday declined to address recommendations from a group of doctors who say it is not safe to hold parades next near.

Citing rising COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, the Medical Society of Mobile County urged mayors in Mobile County not to issue parade permits.

“Why don’t we talk about that later,” Stimpson said in response to a question from FOX10 News.

The mayor said he would rather talk about the announcement Tuesday that the city was purchasing land near Mobile Brookley Aeroplex,

The Nov. 28 letter from the Medical Society of Mobile County is addressed to the Unified Command, an umbrella organization that includes Stimpson and Mobile County Health Officer Dr. Bert Eichold.

The letter singles our Mardi Gras parades as a particularly risky activity.

“The event that poses the most staggering and considerable risk are parades; where thousands of citizens attend, crowded together, and remain for several hours along various parade routes,” the letter states.

Stimpson has said he wants to keep options for Mardi Gras open, even as New Orleans announced it will cancel its parades for the 2021 season and a number of Mobile Mardi Gras organizations have said they will skip a year.

The city has moved forward with contracts for vendors so that that Mardi Gras can go on if officials deem the event safe. The city also has worked with the company that operates the Mobile Civic Center and Convention Center to develop new rules and occupancy restrictions that would allow for scaled-back balls.

“There are no parades anytime in the near future,” the mayor said. “There are no events anytime in the near future. So, we’ve got a few days.”:

The mayor added that the city has not yet issued any parade permits.

As the current number of people hospitalized statewide with novel coronavirus infections nears the all-time record, pressure has been mounting.

The Medical Society of Mobile County’s letter notes state health guidelines prohibiting non-work events that cannot ensure at least 6 feet of space between people.

“Clearly with the upcoming holiday, Social, parade and Carnival season, there will be a number of events where 6’ spacing cannot be maintained by the county municipalities,” the letter states. “We emphasize that the guidance is clear: non work gatherings are just that – no work gatherings and 6’ is 6’”

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