DES MOINES, Iowa — Despite the cancellations of other St. Patrick's Day parades across the nation because of growing COVID-19 concerns, Des Moines organizers will be hosting their annual parade on March 17.
Tony Schmid, president of Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick of Central Iowa, told Local 5 that there's too much at stake.
"We understand that people are concerned about their health, and we encourage them not to attend," said Schmid. "But we have a large amount of Irish-heritage people who come out every year and will not miss it."
Schmid said that he has not received any guidance from local or state health officials on whether or not to host the parade in downtown Des Moines. The event usually brings in thousands of people to stand in the street during the parade and flow into downtown bars and restaurants.
The Iowa Department of Public Health is not making any recommendations to cancel planned events and mass gatherings at this time.
However, Iowans should know that this could change and that they should follow the IDPH closely.
The state hasn't identified any signs of community spread of COVID-19 as of Thursday, and no guidance from the IDPH's federal partners has been made, according to Dr. Caitlin Pedati, IDPH medical director and state epidemiologist.
Schmid said that if the event were to cancel, his group would lose a lot of money.
"The parade has gone from a few $100 to thousands," said Schmid. "Our little club can't afford that. We've been fighting with the fact that we might not be able to have it next year. This is just a really, really bad time for us and we are going to keep moving forward and hope all goes well."
Schmid said that the parade has never been canceled in Des Moines. Other parades, including the ones in Chicago, Cedar Rapids, and New York City, have all canceled their gatherings because of the coronavirus.