Amid COVID-19 concerns, Bellaire cancels Fourth of July parade

The city of Bellaire has opted to cancel its Fourth of July parade amid concerns of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, assistant city manager Brant Gary wrote in an update on the city’s website.

“A major aspect of fighting the spread of the virus is to limit social contact,” Gary wrote in the update. “As a result, our City-sponsored public events have been significantly scaled back or canceled over the past few months.”

The city had opted to move away from a festival and towards a parade-style celebration because of COVID concerns, according to the update.

“Still, we intended to continue with the parade effort while enforcing social distancing and other measures to keep the participants safe,” Gary wrote.

Several factors led to the decision to also cancel the parade. The biggest factor is the continued spread of COVID-19 through the Houston area.

As of June 25, Bellaire had 37 total confirmed cases, with 16 active, and 21 recovered cases, while Harris County, meanwhile, has 17,350 active cases.

“Our participation rates for parade entrants are understandably down from years past, and the virus is continuing to spread in our area at an alarming rate,” Gary wrote.