A glimmer of good cheer on the horizon has been snuffed out due to a steady rise in recent COVID-19 cases, with St. John's seeing two holiday hallmarks cancelled in the same afternoon. Much like the Grinch stole Christmas in a single night, two decisions Monday afternoon have effectively shut down both the city's modified annual Santa Claus parade and a new downtown holiday market that had been greenlighted by council just two weeks ago. Council voted 9-2 to cancel the event, which planned to close sections of Water St. for pedestrian-only access. Santa skipping townMeanwhile, plans for this year's indoor, highly modified Santa Claus parade at Mile One Centre have also sputtered to an end. The Downtown St. John's organization, which organizes the annual parade, said in a release that it couldn't foresee the sudden appearance of three separate COVID-19 clusters in the province.

Source: CBC News November 23, 2020 20:16 UTC