The City of Milford has canceled its St. Patrick's Day parade because of coronavirus, officials announced Wednesday.

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Marty Hardiman, chairman of the Milford St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, issued a statement saying, “Given Governor Ned Lamont’s declared state of public health emergency and with the closure of a private school in Milford due to a possible case of COVID-19, we have decided to cancel the 2020 parade. This decision is being made out of an abundance of caution and with extensive input from local, state, and federal public health officials. This decision will help to ensure that we keep our residents and guests safe and healthy. While this is not the outcome we would have preferred, we look forward to working with all our partners for a successful parade in 2021.

 

 

New Haven also announced the cancellation of its St. Patrick's Day parade earlier this week.

This decision does not just affect paradegoers, however. Business owners will also be impacted.

Hardiman said that the parades often bring 10,000 to 15,000 people downtown.

“Some years it could go up by 20,000,” Hardiman said.

Parade officials say that bars and restaurants that would lose those big crowds are still going to press on.

“They’re going to continue doing what they’re doing because they bought their corned beef, and they have their supplies, so it’ll continue downtown,” Hardiman said.

Some residents also told News 12 that they will continue partying on St. Patrick’s Day anyway.

As of now, Bridgeport and New York City will still hold its St. Patrick’s Day parades.

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