La. leaders warn folks of monkeypox ahead of busy weekend in NOLA

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - As we get ready for LSU to officially kick off football season in New Orleans, thousands of others will also be heading to the Big Easy for the annual Southern Decadence Festival. With any large gathering you’re more likely to be in close contact with strangers which can lead to potential spread. As of today, there are 181 Monkeypox infections statewide and 7 of them are new infections. The state’s Southeast region is still the leading area with 133 cases.

“It is important that we all take monkeypox seriously and that we do everything we can to keep this virus from spreading,” said White House Secretary Xavier Becerra on a virtual call Tuesday afternoon.

The Southern Decadence Festival draws in tens of thousands from the LGBT community from all over the country. Health experts say men in the community are the most at risk for coming in contact with the virus. The White House is sending several community outreach teams to help spread awareness and give vaccines.

“At our request you sent down additional doses so that we could administer more vaccines. Both to residents and to visitors around Southern Decadence Festival. 6,000 doses and we thank you so much,” said Governor Edwards.

Governor Edwards says there will be pop-up sites around the festival grounds both for testing and vaccinations.

“There’s no doubt we will learn lessons over the weekend that we can then share with other folks around the country and help them to do an even better job of preparing for similar events,” Governor Edwards continued.

While mass gatherings like festivals and sporting events increase your risks of being exposed to any number of illnesses, the White House encourages attendees to take similar precautions to avoid Monkeypox.

“This means communicating and sharing information, getting vaccines to people most at risk, and ensuring those who are infected get treatment,” Sec. Becerra added.

To find out where you can get your vaccine visit https://ldh.la.gov/page/monkeypox

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