WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Wilkes-Barre announced Wednesday that it will also be postponing its St. Patrick's Parade this weekend.
Mayor George Brown and other city officials announced the decision to postpone Sunday's 40th annual St. Patrick's Parade until further notice.
"I really think it's silly to cancel it like if it hasn't hit this part of Pennsylvania yet, I don't see why we couldn't celebrate it like we usually do," Cecilia Humphry of Kingston said.
"I'd rather see the parade go on because people are still going to go out in the streets so what's the difference if they have the parade or not," Luther Rogers of Wilkes-Barre said.
Genetti Hotel in downtown Wilkes-Barre is usually booked solid for a parade weekend. Now, the staff is juggling cancelations.
"We were at almost 100%, and now we're at 10% full, so it's a very big, drastic change. So, everyone who would have come in for dinner, we don't have that now," Ajanee Wright of Genetti Hotel said.
Rodano's restaurant is still hosting a St. Patrick's party on Sunday. Usually, about 1,000 customers come through on parade day. Now, workers hope they can still draw in about a third of that.
"We have to get in touch with our beer people, I think we are going to cut down somewhat because I don't expect everyone out as usual, but we're going to prepare for people who do want to come out," Kelly Hughes of Rodano's said.
One person who promises to be out on Sunday, parade or no parade, is Cecilia Humphry of Kingston.
"Oh, I'm definitely going to turn up! It's St.Patrick's Day! I'm going to turn up regardless."
Mayor George Brown couldn't be sure when the parade in Wilkes-Barre will be rescheduled, but he is hoping it can be sometime soon.
The city says 1,500 participants would be in the parade with up to 3,000 on hand to watch and it was having that large number of people in one place that led to the decision to postpone the parade
The mayor tells us at this point there have not been any confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the city or in Luzerne County, nor to their knowledge has anyone been tested for the virus. Still, again this is a safety measure to help prevent the spread of the virus should it make its way here before then.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre Friendly Sons of St. Patrick have also called off their annual dinner scheduled for this Friday at Genetti's. Officials say it will be rescheduled for a later date.