New Orleans runs out of capacity to respond to 911 calls
New Orleans’ EMS department has become so hard hit by the pandemic and the rampant delta variant, it does not have the capacity to respond to 911 calls, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Friday.
“One of our primary and premiere public safety agencies, EMS, was hit very hard with COVID, we’re experiencing that this week, today, right now,” Cantrell said.
The crisis prompted Cantrell to issue an emergency contract to increase the city’s capacity on the ground, “because we currently do not have the capacity to respond to 911 calls that come from our community right now,” she said.
On Friday Cantrell enacted an indoor mask mandate, which requires all people regardless of vaccination status to wear a mask indoors. The mayor also announced that all city employees will be required to be vaccinated, hoping the decision will prompt private businesses to issue similar orders for their workers.
“Our children are dying,” she said. “From 2 weeks old to 2 years old to 4 years old, you cannot make it up.”
She cited that the city has recorded over 1,000 new cases just over this past week.
At the press briefing when Cantrell was asked whether she worries about losing employees who don't want to get a shot, she said, “Well I'm worried about city employees as it relates to death due to this virus."
-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos and Will McDuffie.
