Adam Prudhomme
Editor
St. Patrick’s Day 2021 in KFLA will be much more subdued than in previous years.
At least that’s KFLA Public Health’s intent after medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore issued a Section 22 Class Order, which outlines some of the regulations for local businesses that serve alcohol.
The order, which kicks in March 13 and runs through March 21, states no person shall host or attend an indoor or outdoor gathering with more than five people. Businesses that serve alcohol must be closed between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., only sell and serve alcohol between noon and 10 p.m., require all patrons be seated no more than five to a table when served, collect contact information from every customer and not allow dancing, singing or live performances of music.
“We’re well aware of the history of St. Patrick’s Day in Kingston and it is a day, often a week, of celebration,” Moore said during a Skype media call on Thursday. “Absolutely last year before we went into lockdown there was significant social activity associated with St. Patrick’s Day and it did put our community at risk. So we wanted to be proactive, we wanted to be prudent and we wanted to protect the status that we’re at right now and that includes protecting our schools, our businesses and our student population by putting this in place. We don’t want to attract people to Kingston and then have street parties and or a lot of social activity during this week.”
Failure to comply can result in fines of up to $5,000 for individuals and $25,000 for corporations for every day in which an offence occurs.
Moore believes KFLA is the first in Canada to issue such an order, but states he wanted to be proactive and give people a chance to plan accordingly.
“I thought we should decrease the hours a bit and keep the noise down so we don’t have to yell or be too loud and aerosolize if there was a risk for COVID-19,” said Moore. “We’ll get through this St. Patrick’s Day week I hope calmly, quietly celebrating the Irish heritage and then get back to increasing the protection through boosting the immunization strategy and further protecting our community.”
Moore also commented on the fact KFLA was one of three regions in the province to be selected for a pilot project that will see local pharmacies administer COVID-19 vaccines. He said 10 pharmacies in the region are onboard, but couldn’t name them just yet as the paperwork is yet to be finalized.
He did note there would be some in the rural parts of the health unit region, adding they will be ‘well distributed in Amherstview, Napanee and our rural setting.’
Other regions part of the pharmacy vaccination clinic will be Toronto and Windsor-Essex health units.
Moore said 10,000 individuals have received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the KFLA region and a large supply of the vaccine is due to arrive in the coming weeks.
“I ask that the community maintain that patience, I know everybody’s excited to be immunized, we’re receiving lots of calls,” said Moore. “We’re still piloting and learning and bringing these partners on. I still think April is where you’ll see broad availability throughout our community whether it’s your family physician, your pharmacist and or a partner who is providing mass immunization clinics. I do think anybody who wants to be vaccinated will be offered the vaccine very quickly in KFLA and we’ll build robust population immunity over the next several months. Really looking forward to April.”
Moore also noted a mass immunization clinic at Napanee’s Strathcona Paper Centre remains on track to open March 15.