Some Mummers disobeyed Philadelphia rules to end their annual New Year’s Day parade and took to the streets on Friday, many without face masks trying to slow down the spread of coronavirus.
At least two Mummers groups of a total of several hundred people marched through southern Philadelphia on Friday morning, dressed in their typical colorful attire, dancing and singing as they went on. Some held signs in which Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney was rejected, canceling the parade and several other important events in July last year to curb COVID-19 infections.
The cancellations were made in accordance with recommendations on public health to limit large gatherings, which are known to transmit the deadly disease.
On social media, other Mummers appealed to their peers to comply with the parade cancellation, but that did not deter a handful from violating the rules. One of the defiant Mummers held up a sign that read, “Tradition, not tyranny.”
Philadelphia police officers watched the marchers from a distance, but did not try to disperse the crowd.
“… it is the city’s policy to avoid unnecessary confrontations in enforcing its COVID-19 emergency orders,” a city spokesman told NBC10.
Friday’s marchers included people wearing face masks, but most did not. The masks – along with social distance and other social health measures – have become an important tool in combating COVID-19.
They were ordered not to do so, but a group of maskless Mummers went to 2 Street on New Year’s Day anyway. Some have said they protect a Philadelphia tradition; others said they were protesting that Mayor Kenney was protesting the strike. NBC10’s Stephania Jimenez reports.
Asked about the lack of masks, one Mummer told NBC10: “You do not need a mask because it is not real.”
However, the coronavirus is very real and very deadly.
According to NBC News’ COVID-19 tracker, it killed nearly 347,000 people in the U.S. as of Friday. Although the Food and Drug Administration has approved two vaccines, the country will take months to vaccinate enough people to defeat the virus, and experts insist on constant caution, especially as a new, more contagious variant of the virus emerge.
The city’s spokesman reminded people that those who gather in large crowds – regardless of the type of event – should be tested five to seven days later, stay away from others for ten days and continue to monitor COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.
The Mummers Parade has set the new year for Philadelphia for more than a century. Over the past few years, however, Mummers has been having trouble getting rid of a bad reputation due to repeated racist and insensitive behavior by some members.
Last year, one Mummers group was thrown out of the parade because at least one member of Blackface pulled down on South Broad Street. In 2016, one Mummers group made fun of Caitlyn Jenner while the others painted their faces brown and dressed in ponchos and sombreros, or as tacos.
The repeated offensive acts prompted Kenney last year to urge Mummers leaders to provide better supervision or risk the city to gain support for the parade. Councilman Jamie Gauthier said last year that the Mummers parade needed to be revamped and replaced with a new tradition celebrating the cultures of people in the city.