NEW ORLEANS – State Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, and the Crescent River Port Pilots Association, are partnering for a large-scale, community mask giveaway.
The Mask Up—Stay Safe Community Giveaway will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 29 at Alice Harte Charter School, 5300 Berkley Drive in New Orleans. This event is free and open to the public; masks will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a significant number of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms (“asymptomatic”) and that even those who eventually develop symptoms (“pre-symptomatic”) can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms. This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity—for example, speaking, coughing or sneezing—even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms. In light of this new evidence, the CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
“The Crescent River Port Pilots Foundation and I are concerned about the well-being of not only the citizens of my district, but the citizens of the great State of Louisiana—and our world in its entirety,” said Carter. “We are battling a novel strand of a virus that we are learning new things about each day. I will be on the front lines for this fight—and we will win!”
The Crescent River Port Pilots are licensed by the State of Louisiana and charged with protection of the citizens of the state as the 114 pilots safely navigate huge cargo vessels and cruise ships along the treacherous 106-mile route from the Gulf of Mexico to the City of New Orleans on the Mississippi River, considered one of the most difficult waterways in the world and the gateway to America’s economy.
