Not so fast, Simcoe-Muskoka top doc says
End of stay-at-home order risks greater COVID transmission
TORONTO — The top doctor in an Ontario region hit with deadly outbreaks driven by a COVID-19 variant says residents should still limit their movement after the province’s stayat-home order lifts for the area next week.
The government is gradually rolling back its order as regions move to a colour-coded restrictions system as part of a plan to reopen Ontario’s economy.
Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for SimcoeMuskoka, said he would have preferred to see the order extended by premier Doug Ford.
“I’d rather that we’d waited until it was less precarious,” he said Tuesday. “I’m concerned that we’re losing a very effective control measure.”
The health unit has been hit by several outbreaks — one of them particularly deadly — driven by a variant of COVID-19 that first emerged in the U.K., known as B.1.1.7.
There had been 69 deaths in the outbreak at the Roberta Place long-term-care home in Barrie, Ont., as of Tuesday, with more than 350 infections linked to the outbreak.
It’s unclear what level of the province’s colour-coded restrictions system Simcoe-Muskoka will fall under when the stay-at-home order ends.
Gardner said he would prefer the region be placed in the second-strictest red level, but he’s advising people to continue staying home when possible no matter what happens.
Gardner’s comments on Tuesday echoed concerns raised a day earlier by Toronto’s top doctor, who warned that the new variants could cause a spike in infections if restrictions are lifted. Toronto is set to transition to the province’s tiered restrictions system on Feb. 22.