Coronavirus Concerns: Dublin Cancels St. Patrick's Day 2020 Event

DUBLIN, CA — The City of Dublin has called off its popular two-day St. Patrick's Day Celebration amid rising concerns about the new coronavirus. Nearly 80,000 people attend the celebration, which includes a festival, run and pancake breakfast.

Dublin made the announcement Monday "after tremendous thought and numerous consultations with both the Alameda County Department of Public Health and the Alameda County Office of Emergency Services," the city said in a statement. Organizers are reaching out to vendors and sponsors to notify them of the cancellation.

“It is our duty and obligation to protect our citizens, as well as the many visitors who would be coming into our City for the events. Cancelling the Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Celebration is simply the prudent thing to do," wrote City Manager Linda Smith in the statement.

Last week Livermore National Laboratory sent 25 workers home for two weeks after one employee reported symptoms of the virus and learned they were exposed to someone who contracted the virus.

Pleasanton Unified School District disinfected and temporarily relocated a class after a student's parent learned they may have possibly been exposed to a presumptive positive patient at work.

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Alameda County said Tuesday that a health care worker who lives in the county but worked at a Vacaville hospital was presumed to have contracted coronavirus, pending confirmation testing. That person remains at home, in isolation. On Sunday the county declared a public health emergency.

"This news is not unexpected in the Bay Area, and we are ready for cases here," said Dr. Erica Pan, health officer for the Alameda County Public Health Department. "This is not the time to panic; now is the time for all of us to work together."

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday to provide additional resources, prevent price gouging and help the state better prepare for the virus's spread.

The emergency declaration followed the first known coronavirus-related death in California — an elderly Placer County resident who was exposed to the virus on a Grand Princess cruise Feb. 11-21 from San Francisco to Mexico and back.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21. Ninety-nine cases have been reported across 13 states, with 10 U.S. deaths confirmed, according to a Thursday CDC update.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak here on the CDC website.

— Bay City News Service and Patch editors Bea Karnes and Maggie Fusek contributed to this report