Here’s one you won’t find in any Chamber of Commerce guidebooks:
Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty on Tuesday emphatically urged people not to attend Saturday’s Morris County St. Patrick’s Parade.
Not if you’re over 60, anyway.
After an hour-long closed “emergency” session with town officials, Dougherty backed a Monday decision to keep the March 14, 2020, parade on schedule, despite concerns about the coronavirus that have shut down St. Patrick’s parades in Dublin, Boston and Philadelphia.
Citing guidance from the state health commissioner, Dougherty, 61, said he’s staying home, too. He deputized Council President Stefan Armington to represent him in the line of march.
“I am going to strongly recommend… 60-year-old people and older should refrain from coming to this parade. Especially if they have a compromised immune system,” Dougherty said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“I’m 61 years old, with a heart attack that happened last June, and I’ve been a diabetic for 25 years. It is recommended that people with diabetes, high blood pressure, a bunch of other different issues, do not attend large gatherings. So I’ve asked the council president to step in on my behalf as mayor for the day,” he said.
Video: ‘DON’T COME’ to Saturday’s parade if…
On Tuesday, the state reported its first death from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a 69-year-old Bergen County man who had underlying health issues. Drew, Rutgers, Montclair State and Princeton are among universities that are switching to online instruction during the crisis.
Although Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday declared a state of emergency, it does not require canceling St. Patrick’s parades, according to the head of his coronavirus task force, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.
Rather, she recommended on Tuesday that anyone who is “frail, not feeling well, immunized-depressed, vulnerable in any way should not go.”
Dougherty said his office will issue a final decision on Thursday afternoon. Parades still are planned in Jersey City, West Orange and Union, he noted.
Morristown will take several steps to attempt to minimize chances of spreading the virus at the parade, which has drawn up to 80,000 spectators in past years, according to organizers’ estimates.
- Food- and souvenir vendors will be prohibited
- Health officials will meet with bar operators, and post safety guidelines, in anticipation of packed bars.
Armington, the council president, said he agreed with the decision to go forward with the parade, especially since downtown bars will be filled with people, either way.
“I think taking the PATH, train or subway every day is a significantly higher risk” than attending the parade, he said after the council meeting.
No cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Morris County–though the mayor said some people have been quarantined at Morristown Medical Center–and at least 15 presumed cases have been identified statewide.
Councilwoman Sandi Mayer asked on Tuesday if council meetings could be conducted by phone or web conference if the situation worsens; town Attorney Vij Pawar said he’s exploring such options.
Artie Flinn, parade chairman, said on Monday he planned to go forward with the parade unless the governor bans large gatherings. He expected some spectators would stay home because of health concerns.
Nobody from the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick or the Irish American Association of Northwest Jersey, the nonprofits that organize the annual parade as a charity fundraiser, attended Tuesday’s emergency session, which involved the mayor, council members and police and fire officials.
Philadelphia may have had extra incentive to close down its festivities.
Historians have blamed a war bond parade for spreading a deadly influenza epidemic across that city in 1918.
That same year, St. Louis took preemptive measures credited with saving thousands of lives. A parade still is scheduled there on Saturday.
The parade in Morristown traces its roots to 1780, when Gen. George Washington authorized his Irish American soldiers to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Morris County’s first modern St. Patrick’s parade started in Wharton in 1979, and moved to Morristown in 1991. Over those years, it’s been postponed just twice: For snow in 1993, and because of gusty winds in 2010. Both times, the parade was rescheduled.
As an Irishman, Dougherty said, skipping the parade is a “very difficult decision.” People don’t have enough information about the coronavirus, he feels, ” because there’s not been enough testing done.
“If the parade goes on, enjoy it,” he said, reiterating advice from Monday:
“Don’t be kissing people you don’t know. Don’t be hugging people you don’t know. Keep as much distance as you can from people, wash your hands, get some small sanitizer, if you can.”
But this time, he added:
“If you’re not feeling well, don’t come. If you’ve been sick for the last month, do not come. If someone in your family is sick, and you’re exposed to that, do not come.
“Another year will come, another St. Patrick’s day will come.”
Some localities are canceling their parades; even NYC is seriously giving thought to cancelling theirs next week. As this virus continues to spread, I’ve gone from being skeptical to concerned, not so much for myself as for the fear of infecting those nearest to me who are vulnerable.
Insane. Parade should be cancelled. A day of joy isn’t worth infecting the entire town. If a couple cases are brought here, the town will be a hub for the virus to expand.
It can be spread by breathing and lingers in the air for up to 30 minutes. Imagine 60,000 people. Forget about the economic boom this brings, think of the health of our population.
This is so ridiculous. Every health professional is saying the way to prevent this is to avoid large groups and maintain a 6′ distance. That’s not happening at the parade or even worse, inside the bars for the pub crawl portion.
And of course the mayor isn’t going because he knows this is true. But like many others spreading rumors (and Kevin, can you consider not approving comments that include bogus info like the spanish flu info – why help misinformation spread?) he probably does not understand that by skipping the parade he’s only marginally safer. The parade provides an environment for people both in and out of town who may be asymptomatic to mingle and spread the virus and later pass it to him anyway (he’s in a risk group). We know our nationwide count is low due to lack of adequate tests and the CDC refusing some tests to keep the numbers low (see the Seattle news).
The goal in avoiding large groups is not necessarily to prevent infection, which might be somewhat inevitable, but to SLOW it so that we don’t exceed the capacity of our health system.
This is all explained very clearly here:
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation
Pay very close attention to the graph in that article – it shows the difference between a manageable disease and an outbreak that leads to a collapse of our healthcare system: https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19780273/flattening_the_curve_final.jpg
This is ridiculous. Merely telling anyone over 60 to stay away will not prevent people from contracting the virus. This guy’s ego is getting in the way of people’s safety. Cancel the parade.
Spanish Flu isn’t really a good comparison as it was a much more severe disease and hit a population weakened by war which brought poor sanitation and malnutrition making it a perfect breeding ground. Also, Spanish Flu hit the younger population very hard which is not the case regarding Corona. Like the health officials said and the Mayor reiterated, if you’re over 60, take precautions.