If only St. Patrick could drive the cornonavirus out of Ireland — and the rest of the world.
Not even the wearing of the green could perk up many isolated or self-quarantined Americans on Tuesday.
The happy-go-lucky spirit at the heart of traditional St. Patrick’s Day parades and celebrations in the U.S. and elsewhere was largely subdued, thanks to concern over the outbreak and rapid spread of the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus.
“The celebrations honoring the patron saint of Ireland are much more subdued this year due to the coronavirus,” reports MarketWatch, noting that festivities have been canceled from Dublin to Boston.
That’s particularly bad news for bars and restaurants, “which count on March 17 to be a pot of gold,” says the financial website, citing recent data showing that in 2019, St. Patrick’s Day last year was the highest grossing day of the year for such establishments.
Parades were cancelled around the world, including in Dublin and New York — where the city’s traditional march was called off for the first time in its 258-year history. A few celebrants turned out at St. Patrick’s Cathedral anyway.
There was also a kind of cheerful defiance Tuesday in much of Ireland, ABC News reported from Dublin. No parade required.
Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE, urged people to post footage of their improvised, isolated celebrations on social media,” which prompted “a riot of flag-waving family processions, pets in green, white and orange tricolors and children performing Irish dancing.”
The crew of the International Space posted “an astronaut’s-eye view” of the Emerald Isle on Twitter.
In his annual holiday address, Irish President Michael Higgins said that St. Patrick’s Day “has become a profound expression of a common history that extends far beyond Irish shores.
“As members of that global community, we must commit to working in a spirit of solidarity and co-operation, joining with citizens across the world in fighting this global health emergency.”
