Hungry rats swarm New Orleans streets as coronavirus closes restaurants, bars

With French Quarter bars and restaurants shuttered by a coronavirus lockdown, rats emboldened by hunger are swarming deserted New Orleans streets at night, WHTM reports.

“It’s driving our rodents crazy,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell, reported WWL-TV.

More than 1.2 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 65,000 deaths as of April 5, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 312,000 confirmed cases with more than 8,500 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. The United States has declared a national emergency.

In Louisiana, which celebrated Mardi Gras as the pandemic took hold, more than 3,300 COVID-19 cases have been reported with more than 130 deaths, state officials say.

The state has ordered people to remain in their homes, closing down restaurants and bars in the famed French Quarter of New Orleans.

That makes it “a difficult time to be a rat,” since the rodents depend on dropped and discarded food to survive, said Claudia Regal, head of the local pest control board, CBS News reported.

Tour guides and restaurateurs report seeing rats swarming the streets at night in search of something to eat, according to the network.

“Unfortunately, with these businesses being shut down, these rats are hungry,” Regal said, WWL-TV reported. Pest control officers are using rat traps and bait to try to curtail the rat population.

City leaders are asking people to properly dispose of trash and avoid throwing food into the streets, WHTM reported.

City leaders also worry hungry rats could endanger the city’s homeless population, CBS News reported.

”There are pathogens in these rodents,” Regal said, according to the network. “We don’t have very many disease cases that are actually related to rodents. But the potential is there.”

This story was originally published March 29, 2020 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Hungry rats swarm New Orleans streets as coronavirus closes restaurants, bars."