Kingston health unit extends party ban until end of university exams

The Kingston, Ont., medical officer of health has extended an order aimed at curbingpotential St. Patrick's Day parties until the end of April the last day of exams at Queen's University after a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city and at the school.

Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health (KFL&A) is in thegreen zone, the lowest level under Ontario's pandemic scale. But the number of cases,including thoseinvolving variants of concern, has been rising rapidly over the past couple weeks.

Regions in the green zone are allowed to have private gatherings of up to 10 people inside and 25 outside.

But an order issued by Dr. Kieran Moore limited those gatherings to five people both inside and outside between March 13 and 21, and it has now been extended until April 30.

Businesses that serve alcohol will also have to close at 11 p.m. ET each night and stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m.

Singing, dancing and live music also won'tbe allowed.

"Cases are increasing at a concerning rate in the City of Kingston and it is clear we must take further action to protect our community," Moore said in a release Wednesday.

"We have come so far, and as we provide increasing immunity to our community through immunization, we must all be vigilant and keep our community safe. It is important to remember to stay home, stay local, stay safe, save lives."

Any failure to comply with this Class Order can result in fines of up to $5,000 for every day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues.

Dozens of new cases in 2 weeks

The region has seen more than 60 new cases in the past two weeks, including an increase in cases with variantsof concern. There are now currently 21 confirmed cases with variants of concern.

Twooutbreaks at Queen's University involve at least 39 students both on and off campus, the health unit said.

There are 12 activecases related to the on-campus outbreak which has spread to the wider Kingston community and has affected students at three elementary schools via a swimming lesson and involvinga variant of concern.

The specific variant of concern hasn't yet been identified because it can take weeks to determine that information through genetic sequencing. A third child at an elementary school has also been infected, Moore told CBC.

• Queen's University COVID-19 outbreak spreads into community

Another 27 students have active cases of the illness off campus.