CLEVELAND , Ohio – Cleveland’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been canceled for the first time over concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

The event, which draws thousands of Irish and Irish-for-the-day into downtown Cleveland, was scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, the same day as the primary election. As late as Tuesday the parade committee planned to hold the event as scheduled.

But the committee posted notice Wednesday that it was calling off the parade as a precautionary measure.

“Regretfully, the Cleveland St. Patrick’s Day Parade, scheduled on Tuesday, March 17th has been canceled. The United Irish Societies, in collaboration with city officials and public health officials have made this decision as a precautionary measure in the best interest of and for the public health and safety of our community. Our priority is to help prevent new cases."

Linda M. Carney, executive director of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee of the United Irish Societies of Greater Cleveland, did not respond to calls for comment.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Frank Jackson confirmed that the parade organizers made their decision after consulting with the city. The Cleveland International Film Festival also announced it would cancel.

Jackson urged organizers of large events in Cleveland to consider whether to cancel in light of the spread of the coronavirus.

The state confirmed Ohio’s first three cases of coronavirus Tuesday, all in Cuyahoga County.

Missing the parade? See video from last year.

At a joint news conference Tuesday involving Cleveland and Cuyahoga County leaders, health officials said they were tracking other people, too, who had had contact with the three patients.

Jackson said then, though, that the situation could change, depending on recommendations by health and safety officials.

Gov. Mike DeWine and state health experts on Tuesday urged canceling in-person college classes, banning spectators from large gatherings such as sporting events and concerts, and temporarily keeping away visitors to Ohio prisons, among other measures.

“Were now at a critical time here in Ohio in regard to the coronavirus,” DeWine said then. “The decisions that we make as individuals in the next few days, the next several weeks will really determine how many lives are going be lost in Ohio.”

On Wednesday, DeWine confirmed he had talked with mayors from Ohio’s large cities to reiterate that in even though there are only a few confirmed cases in Ohio, the situation is serious.

“It was a very, very good conversation,” DeWine said during a tour of the state’s coronavirus hotline operations Wednesday morning. “Because it’s just hard for people to understand the situation that they’re in because they go about their business and they don’t see much going on. This is like going from a total standstill to 140 miles an hour in two seconds.”

This year would have been the 178th rendition of Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day observances, which date from 1842.

Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Brendan Sheehan, 52, has been watching the parade or taking part in it for as long as he can remember. For the past 20 years or so he and his mother have marched with the West Side Irish-American Club.

While disappointed he won’t get the chance to so again this year, “I do support the decision of the parade committee,” he said. “I mean our goal is to keep people safe and not spread a virus, and hopefully people will find another way to celebrate and not infect other folks.

Related stories:

Coronavirus update: U.S. cases top 1,000

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommends canceling college classes, banning fans from sports games to stop coronavirus

Travel in the age of coronavirus: Some Clevelanders cancel trips, others wait and see

Ohio Democratic Party postpones state dinner as coronavirus precaution

Reporters Peter Krouse and Laura Hancock contributed to this report.