COVID pandemic causes more events to be canceled in southwest Illinois
Labor Day events in Madison County have been canceled because of the rising number of COVID cases in the region.
Labor Day parades and picnics in St. Louis and Belleville also have been canceled.
B. Dean Webb, president of the Greater Madison County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, said he was “really disappointed” to announce the cancellations.
The events canceled include a softball tournament that was scheduled to begin Aug. 25, a Wood River-East Alton parade and picnic on Aug. 28 and a Granite City parade and picnic on Sept. 6.
Webb said the decision was made “for the safety of our members.”
The 2020 Labor Day events also were canceled because of the pandemic.
The number of coronavirus patients in metro-east hospitals has skyrocketed since June and public health officials have blamed the increases on the delta variant and the low number of vaccinations.
Webb said he “thought more people would get vaccinated” by this time.
Hospital officials have said most of the COVID patients during the summer surge had not been vaccinated before they entered the hospital.
