Walsh: No St. Patrick’s Day gatherings
Mayor Martin Walsh is pleading with Bostonians to avoid gathering around St. Patrick’s Day as the city sees an “uptick” in coronavirus cases.
“I’m appealing to people of Boston to do the right thing,” Walsh told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday. “Please do the right thing. We have made so much progress in bringing these numbers down — there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Walsh said, “So, don’t put our progress at risk because people want to have a party at St. Patrick’s Day.”
Walsh reiterated that the cap on indoor gatherings is 10 people and outdoor gatherings are limited to 25 guests.
“There should be no large gatherings of any kind,” the mayor said. “I’m asking people not to have house parties — not to have parties with family members that are not your immediate family member or your immediate bubble.”
Walsh said the city has seen “a little bit of an uptick over the last 10 days” in coronavirus case numbers. Walsh called that “unfortunate” and said the city is looking into what’s driving that bump.
On the whole, Boston’s numbers have trended in the right direction for weeks following a surge around the holidays. According to the most recent data available, the city’s seeing a 3.6% positive test rate on average, far below the 8%-plus that was happening two months ago.
This comes on the one-year anniversary of the day Walsh pulled the plug on the 2020 St. Patrick’s Day parade in what was one of the first major local cancellations of the worsening pandemic. By the end of the week, the city had postponed the Boston Marathon and announced the closure of schools.
This Paddy’s Day parade was canceled well in advance, but Boston licensing officials have said they still expect a “significant influx” of people into South Boston over the next couple of weeks.
Walsh stressed the continued vaccination effort, saying 20% of Bostonians have received at least one shot, including 10% who are fully vaccinated.
“Now is not the time to let up,” Walsh said. “Now is not the time to let our guard down.”