Coronavirus: Community parades must cease, health officials say

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Various parades in communities should cease under the state’s stay-at-home order, Montgomery County health officials said Thursday.

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“They need to be discontinued,” said Montgomery County Health Commissioner Jeff Cooper. “It’s not fun to say, but that’s the reality of where we are right now.”

Several parades have been organized in recent days throughout the Miami Valley, including a parade in support of healthcare workers at Miami Valley Hospital South and Kettering Medical Center Thursday afternoon.

Today’s recommendation from Public Health came after Thursday’s parade and others like it in the community.

Such events need to stay in line with the stay-at-home order, which states (among other things) that people should leave home only for essential activities, Cooper said. Parades do not meet the intention of that order, he added.

For healthcare workers today however, the parade was meaningful in what has been a very challenging time.

“I can’t thank the community enough for coming out today,” said Joann RInger, president of Miami Valley Hospital South. “It was really actually overwhelming. It was emotional to watch.”

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