Concerns over the novel coronavirus, which causes the illness known as COVID-19, have prompted organizers to cancel the St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Celtic Festival planned for March 21 in Sellersville.
Sellersville Borough Manager David Rivet said organizers had no choice but to cancel amid the escalating public health risks that come with large crowd gatherings and the potential to spread COVID-19.
“The Pennridge Chamber of Commerce organizing committee has worked hard all year to plan for this event, but in the face of recent developments had to make the difficult decision to cancel,” Rivet said.
As a result of COVID-19, Bucks County recently declared a state of emergency. In an effort to check the virus’s spread, Gov. Tom Wolf last week closed all public schools in Pennsylvania until at least March 30.
On Monday, Wolf issued a directive that all non-essential businesses throughout the Keystone State’s 67 counties close for two weeks.
Restaurants and bars were included in the “non-essential” businesses.
“This isn’t a decision that I take lightly at all,” Wolf said. “It’s one that I’m making because medical experts believe it is the only way we can prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed by patients.”
Against such a backdrop, organizers of the Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Sellersville decided to call off the celebration, as did organizers of Bucks County’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. That follows suit with other larger parades. New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade has been postponed. Philadelphia’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade was canceled. So was Boston’s parade.
COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in China. It has since spread to every inhabited continent.
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