One of the largest annual events in western Massachusetts has been cancelled due to concerns about the novel coronavirus.
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse announced Tuesday that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade – an event that with good weather can draw up to a quarter of a million people – will not be held this year.
The parade was scheduled to take place on March 22nd. A road race scheduled for the day before the parade is also off.
" It would be irresponsible for us to carry on with these events as scheduled," Morse said.
The decision was made after a meeting in Morse’s office involving parade organizers, public health and public safety officials.
"This decision was not made lightly, but all involved agreed it was in the best interests of our cities public health and public safety," Morse said.
Other St. Patrick’s Day parades that have been called off this year include ones scheduled in Boston, Lawrence, and Hartford.
The sudden cancellation of the Holyoke parade illustrates the rapidly changing response to the coronavirus. After Boston announced the cancellation of its parade Monday night, the Holyoke Parade Committee released a statement saying its event was still on and a meeting would take place later in the week with city health officials to discuss precautions.
But, the meeting was pushed up to Tuesday and the director of the Holyoke Board of Health, Sean Gonsalves, said it was decided no reasonable precautions could be taken to protect parade-goers, marchers, and public safety personnel working at the event from possible exposure to the virus.
"One of the most pressing concerns of parade weekend is large amounts of people that are in small spaces," said Gonsalves, who noted guidlines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that recommend people maintain six feet of seperation to avoid spreading germs through sneezing or coughing.
As of Tuesday, there were no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in Holyoke.
The parade has been a fixture in Holyoke since 1952, and this is apparently the first time it has been cancelled, according to Marc Joyce, president of the parade committee.
" This is unprecedented," said Joyce.
A study a few years ago by the UMass Donahue Institute put the economic impact of the parade at about $20 million.
" This is not about the economy, this is about health and at the end of the day that is what it had to come down to," said Joyce, who added, " I am not happy about it, but I fully understand it and I think it is the correct decision for the whole community."
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Tuesday and said the risk of contracting the virus in Massachusetts had increased.
He announced travel restrictions for state employees and urged older people and those with existing health conditions to stay away from crowds.
The Spring Bulb Show at Smith College was cut short after the college announced Monday it would limit the size of on-campus gatherings.
On Tuesday, Smith informed students they must vacate on-campus housing by March 20th and not expect to return to campus this semester.
Amherst College announced Monday that students are not to return to campus after spring break next week and will do their course work remotely.
Hospitals have imposed restrictions on visitors. Public transit systems have announced more frequent cleanings of buses and stations.
The Hampden County Sheriff’s Department announced new screening procedures for incoming prisoners and an increased cleaning schedule.
