Social distancing, mask mandate, lockdown, capacity limit and, later, mass-vaccination are all terms that have become commonplace since COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic was declared three years ago.
Many restaurants, bars and other businesses fell victim to the financial woes of the pandemic, but one of Kingston’s downtown icons, Morrison’s Diner, managed to stay afloat.
“Me and my wife and my kids, two, three kids, we worked here whenever we could. Whether we survive, we survive,” said Morrison’s Diner owner Mike Argiris.
Argiris says when he first found out that he had to close down temporarily, on March 16, 2020, he thought it would maybe be a month at the most.
“We had to close it down and I had to send everyone on unemployment,” said Argiris. “I was very shocked and after that, I don’t know what happens.”
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The current Medical Officer of Health for Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Public Health, Dr. Poitr Oglaza says as the pandemic dragged on into months and now years, misinformation became almost as big an issue as COVID-19 itself.
“Misinformation out there about what COVID-19 was thought to be early in 2020,” said Oglaza
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Despite the battle against misinformation, Oglaza said that Kingston and area remained near the front of the line in a lot of positive metrics, like vaccine uptake.
“People in this region have been embracing that accurate information on how to protect each other, how to protect themselves, each other, and I believe that was a very big success,” said Oglaza.
Oglaza says that the best way to prepare for the future is to remember the hardships of the past three years, and to strive for better overall health so that the next time something like this happens, we’ll be ready.
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