Kingston, Ont. has ramped up city-wide COVID-19 restrictions for the week of St. Patrick’s Day in an attempt to reduce community transmission caused by parties at Queen’s University.
Queen’s has garnered a reputation over the years for its popular street parties in celebration of St.Patrick’s day, often drawing hundreds of students to Kingston.
However as St. Patrick’s Day approaches, Queen’s is reporting 18 new cases of COVID-19 -10 of which were a part of a residence outbreak, forcing stricter health measures across the city.
The stricter measures implemented under the new Section 22 Class Order is effective from 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 13, 2021 until Sunday, March 21, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. The Order limits all gatherings in the city to five people indoors and outdoors,and enforces several restrictions for businesses that serve alcohol. Failure to comply with this Order may result in a fine up to $5000.
Kingston Police have partnered up with the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (KFLA) Public Health Administration to implement the preventative measures.
Sgt. Steve Koopman of the Kingston Police said that they are ready to support the health measures for the duration of the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
“We’re going in the direction of our Medical Officer of Health here who’s Dr. Kieran Moore for KFLA public health,” he said. “He’s the one that has decided that this Section 22 Order is in the best interest of our community between March 13 and 21 to ensure compliance and the lack of spread of COVID-19 due to the anticipated St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.”
Section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act implements precautionary measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission throughout the week. According to Dr. Kieran Moore, there will be many new measures taken under Section 22.
Some new measures taken under Section 22 include mandating all businesses that serve alcohol closing from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and only permitting alcohol to be sold or served between 12 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Moore said these measures were implemented due to both the rising number of cases and St. Patrick’s Day traditions at Queen’s.
“We know historically, St. Patty’s week celebrations have been significant events within the city of Kingston so we wanted to be proactive,” Moore said. “I think it worked out well for us [because] we actually have an outbreak of variants of concern that started last week, which is already keeping us busy and affecting the student population.”
Despite pleas last year from local officials and Queen’s administration for students not to gather on St. Patrick’s Day, street parties still took place.
Will Redfearn is a student at the University of Ottawa who is currently living in Kingston. He says he thinks that the Queen’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations during COVID-19 last year will be an indicator of the upcoming days.
Redfearn said while he personally intends to follow the guidelines set by the city, he worries these new regulations will drive students indoors and increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“I think it’s just going to force people to have literal house parties instead of getting outside,” he said. “People are still gonna do what they’re gonna do and you can’t stop people from doing that.”
Kingston Police will increase police presence all week to prevent COVID-19 transmission, according to Koopman.
In a March 4. statement to the Queen’s community, Mark Green, Queen’s provost and vice-principal (academic) urged students to follow guidelines this week.
“I know the limitations on social gatherings haven’t been easy,” said Green in the statement. “Let’s continue to stand strong and keep our campus community, and Kingston, safe.”
Featured image via Chris Yao/Queens Journal.
