Kingston at the end of ‘3rd period’ of its fight against COVID-19, says departing MOH

Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the KFL&A region, has given his last video update to the community before he moves into the position of Ontario’s top doctor.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore and his team have been posting short YouTube videos called “Ask the MOH,” where he often stands in front of a paper flipboard and explains the pandemic matters of the day — sometimes using Canada’s favourite pastime to help put things into perspective.

Wednesday, a day after Moore’s nomination as chief medical officer of health was passed in the Ontario legislature, he sent out his last of those videos on the state of the pandemic in the local region.

“Well, in the hockey analogy, I think we really are in the third period,” he said.

He said as of Wednesday, he believes KFL&A Public Health had the region’s third wave under control.

“I think this has been a tough battle in the third period, as all games are,” he said.

With active case counts hovering around 10, and seeing less than two positive cases per 100,000 people a week, the numbers don’t lie, Moore is leaving the Kingston region in a good spot.

Still, Moore has yet to speak publicly about his departure from the local community, and did not address it in his last video to the public.

On the contrary, Moore spoke often about his shared future with Kingston.

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“We’re building from the response phase to the recovery phase, and I do see hope for the fall that we’ll be returning to a post-pandemic world,” he said.

He said the health unit will continue to monitor for infection in the community, but as it stands now, the future seems brighter for Kingston.

“With the immunization strategy that we have in place, there is significant hope for the fall to return to normal and very much looking forward to going through the three stages as we really open our economy and our community safely.”