New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade Postponed

NEW HAVEN, CT — New Haven has postponed its annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade amid the growing concern of the potential spread of the new coronavirus, Mayor Justin Elicker announced Monday. City and health officials, including Health Director Maritza Bond and Community Services Administrator Dr. Mehul Dalal, are recommending that gatherings of more than 100 people be postponed until further notice, according to Elicker.

“The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of New Haven’s important community and historical events, and it is with great disappointment that we need to postpone the event,” Elicker said in a news release. “Given the thousands of out of town visitors for the parade and the number of first responders that are required to staff the parade, we have assessed that the risks of potential community spread – and significant impacts that would have on the region and our first responders – merit the decision to postpone the parade.

“We realize this has a significant impact on the many groups that participate in organizing and marching in the parade and on local businesses. We regret the inconvenience but want to emphasize the need to keep our city safe for residents and visitors. The situation related to COVID-19 is evolving very rapidly. Our team is meeting on a daily basis to evaluate the situation and will share any guidance to the public as soon as new information is available.”

Bond said as a “global city, we need to take every precaution possible to mitigate any chance of a COVID-19 case in New Haven. This is a serious and growing public health concern. I strongly urge all our residents to follow our Health Department guidelines and further guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC).”

As the city recommends that large gatherings be postponed, concurrently, the city will be evaluating its own meetings and gatherings on a “rolling basis to make determinations for each event as to how to effectively conduct business while evaluating any public health risks as they exist at the time the decisions need to be made,” according to officials.

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