A quiet St. Patrick's Day 2021 on Ezra Avenue in Waterloo

Despite the sunny skies, St. Patrick's Day on Ezra Avenue in Waterloo was a quiet affair.

As of Wednesday afternoon, just ahandful of students who wore green walked along the residential street. Some police cruisers could be spotted driving up and down Ezra Avenue andaround the nearby streets.

Otherwise, it was no different than any other spring day.

"There has been no activity on Ezra [Avenue] today," a spokesperson for Waterloo regional police said just before 2 p.m. Wednesday.

"So far, no calls," said a spokesperson for the City of Waterloo. "There are a few people out, but pretty quiet."

Far cry from years' past

It's the second year in a row the pandemic has put a damper on St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

In years past,thousands of people have descended on the small residential street behind Wilfrid Laurier University to mark the day in an unsanctioned street party. Last year, it was just police officers on the street as people did not show up for the party.

Officials expected the same might happen this year. There were no porta-potties, fences or hand sanitizer stations in sight another contrast from 2020.

Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky said in an interview last month that, "things are looking promising" when it comes to young people not showing up to party.

But he added the city, universities, emergency services officials and community members were still preparing for the day.

"Planning has not relaxed at all," he said.

Nicole Papke,the director of municipal enforcement with the City of Waterloo, said bylaw officers are ready just in case people show up.

"We appreciate that there is maybe some pandemic, COVID fatigue right now so we just really want to re-advocate that those types of gatherings still are not safe, even a year later," Papke said.

"We are still in a pandemic so we're sincerely advocating that the students do not gather for safety reasons. It's not safe at the best of times, but ... we're in the red zone so there are restrictions for gathering inside and outside. But we are preparing for whatever could happen."

Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region's medical officer of health, said people need to remember, even with vaccines on the way, now is not the time to gather in large groups, particularly as variants of the virus circulate in the community.

"Our residents, they did good last year and I think our residents will do good this year as well," Wang said Friday during a media briefing.

"We need to keep up with those strict public health precautions for the next few months. It is critical because it may not feel like it right now but we are in a very risky time."