The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, which draws 500,000 revellers each year, has been cancelled due to the spread of the coronavirus disease.
The National Public Health Emergency Team on Monday recommended that the National St. Patrick’s Festival Parade in Dublin on March 17th and the mass gathering events at the Festival should not proceed.
“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,” said Dublin City Manager Linda Smith.
“It’s possible that we are facing events that are unprecedented in modern times,” Acting Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said in a news conference on Monday.
This cancellation follows the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Day Parades in Cork, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Ireland has so far had 21 confirmed cases of the virus within its borders.
