CDC urges St Patrick’s Day partygoers to stay home amid pandemic
‘Attending gatherings to celebrate St Patrick’s Day increases your risk of getting and spreading Covid-19,’ agency says
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Your support makes all the difference.The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged St Patrick’s Day partygoers to stay at home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The agency has recommended that people hold virtual celebrations for St Patrick’s Day on Wednesday and for any events held throughout the weekend, in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
“Attending gatherings to celebrate St Patrick’s Day increases your risk of getting and spreading Covid-19,” advice on the CDC website reads.
“The safest way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day this year is to gather virtually, with people who live with you, or outside and at least 6 feet apart from others,” the agency adds.
This year marks the second St Patrick’s Day in a row affected by the pandemic, as parades were cancelled and bars and restaurants were shut down just hours before the day in 2020.
Both Chicago and Boston confirmed earlier this month that they had postponed their parades, with the former’s mayor Lori Lightfoot explaining that the decision was made as a “precautionary measure to prevent any additional spread of Covid-19.”
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Celebrations will be allowed in some areas this year as bars and restaurants will be open at 35 per cent capacity in New York City, but its annual parade will be mostly virtual for a second year in a row.
However, some areas of the US are braced for visitors, as Irish Central reported that around 50,000 people are scheduled to arrive in Savannah, Georgia, for celebrations on Wednesday, despite its parade, which is the third largest in the US, being cancelled.
Local politicians have raised fears about the influx of people to the area, with Savannah Mayor Van Johnson describing it as a “slap in the face” to those who have been following rules to stop the spread of the virus.
“To advertise this huge festival with the intent of drawing people to a particular space in the middle of a pandemic, when we know social distancing and mask-wearing is not going to be enforced, is horrible as far as I’m concerned,” Mr Johnson added.
Numerous states across the US have started easing coronavirus restrictions as Covid-19 cases and deaths have fallen significantly from the record highs set in January.
The administering of coronavirus vaccines across the US has also helped the country tackle the virus, as President Joe Biden has said that he expects the US to have administered 100 million treatments by the end of next week.
So far, around 71 million Americans have received the first dose of their coronavirus vaccine, while 11.68 per cent of the US population is already fully vaccinated.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 29.5 million people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached 536,992.
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