New York has cancelled its St Patrick’s Day parade for the first time in its 258-year history as Donald Trump ramped up efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus with a travel ban.
The high profile event, usually held on March 17, draws in tens of thousands of performers and millions of spectators to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue every year.
But the city’s governor Andrew Cuomo announced in a statement early on Thursday morning that it would be postponed to a later date, owing to a nationwide bid to contain Covid-19.
He said: “While I know the parade organisers did not make this decision lightly, public health experts agree that one of the most effective ways to contain the spread of the virus is to limit large gatherings and close contacts, and I applaud the parade's leadership for working cooperatively with us.”
The celebrations in New York date back to 1762, according to historians, making it one of the oldest such celebrations in the world.
Other major cities, including Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Dublin, have also called off their parades, and the White House said its own St Patrick’s reception would not go ahead “out of an abundance of caution”.
The news came shortly after Donald Trump announced “strong but necessary” travel restrictions on Europe “to keep new cases from entering our shores”.
The president said all travel between the US and Europe – excluding the UK and Ireland – would be suspended for 30 days, starting on Friday, as the country gets to grips with the outbreak.
However, a Presidential Proclamation issued later specified that only travellers from the 26 countries in the Schengen border-free travel area were barred, leaving a number of other European countries unaffected.
There are 1,135 confirmed cases of the virus across the US, with 38 deaths so far.
