Cook Co Bd Pres Toni Preckwinkle and Gov JB Pritzker at 2019 Parade – Weyermuller photo
CHICAGO – The above photo by Illinois Review contributor Mark Weyermuller is from last year – because Chicago's downtown 2020 St. Patrick's Day Parade has been canceled, according to the parade's website:
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is also canceling this year's Southside St. Patrick's Day Parade scheduled for the same day.
The cancellations deters rumors that Democrat presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden would be participating, just prior to the March 17th party primaries.
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) said on its website Tuesday that it
…continues to work closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal, state and local partners to monitor and respond to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. There have been 19 cases of COVID-19 identified in Illinois so far after CDPH and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 8 additional cases on March 10. Current information suggests that person-to-person spread will continue to occur and more cases will be identified in the United States and in Chicago. CDPH’s goal is to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in Chicago by detecting new cases quickly, minimizing transmission and developing guidance to prepare communities to respond. The virus is NOT currently spreading widely in the U.S. and the immediate health risk to the general public from the virus causing COVID-19 remains low both in the U.S. and in Chicago.