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As the number of cases of the COVID-19 virus continues to grow in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh is taking special measures to ensure St. Patrick’s Day parties, particularly on the Southside, remain safe while allowing the festivities to continue.

City Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the neighborhood, says the city will follow its original plans for Saturday. Shuttles will ferry partygoers to the Southside bars and 54 portable toilets will be in placed in the area. 

“All systems are in place and there is no difference in the last four years,” says Kraus. 

To address the spread of the coronavirus, the city will install handwashing stations throughout the South Side and is advising the public to not practice the St. Patrick’s Day tradition of kissing strangers.

While the cancelation of Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade may diminish the size of the crowds, the city is still expecting 20,000 people on the Southside Saturday night, according to KDKA. 

“We can’t predict that there will be additional crowds, but we’re planning as if there will be,” says Kraus.  

The city will also be enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on building capacities to ensure proper social distancing. 

“The public safety director has made it public that he is very firm on keeping occupancy at legal limits,” says Kraus. “The way that he said it was that if there was one person over occupancy, he will shut the establishment down and they will not open for the remainder of that day.” 

Go to Pittsburgh’s Public Safety department website for more information on the city’s response to coronavirus.