SoWashCo Hmong New Year Event Canceled As COVID-19 Cases Rise

WOODBURY, MN — Organizers on Monday canceled their plans to host a Hmong New Year celebration at Woodbury High School this winter after a surge in coronavirus cases in Washington County.

The Hmong New Year event — organized by the Hmong Parent Advisory Council 833, the East Ridge Asian American Student Union, the Woodbury Asian Club and the Park Asian American Club — was initially scheduled for Dec. 10 but was postponed as schools closed that day for an impending snowstorm.

That storm dropped up to 20 inches of snow in parts of Woodbury over the following weekend.

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Organizers had hoped to reschedule this winter’s Hmong New Year celebration but a recent rise in coronavirus cases in Washington County has forced them to cancel the event.

Washington County officials reported 1,679 new coronavirus cases from Dec. 28 through Jan. 3 and one death. Half as many cases were reported the previous week, though 16 deaths were recorded, according to the county’s COVID-19 data dashboard.

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The county has recorded 46,733 coronavirus cases and 409 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, as of Monday, the dashboard shows.

There were 425 new cases Monday, Washington County's fourth-largest single-day increase of the pandemic, according to the dashboard.