St. Patrick’s Day parades across Ireland have been canceled over concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Monday.
“The St. Patrick’s Day festival across the country has been canceled, and this is nationwide, not just in Dublin,” Varadkar said.
The March 17 celebration is a big week for the Irish tourist industry. Dublin’s parade draws more than 750,000 people to the city, according to the Irish Post. The city of Cork’s parade has about 50,000 visitors for the festivities.
There have been 21 confirmed cases in the Irish Republic and 12 in Northern Ireland.
