Simcoe-Muskoka medical officer of health Dr. Charles Gardner says he would have preferred waiting an extra week or two before easing restrictions.
During the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit's media briefing on Wednesday, Gardner said it may have been worth taking the extra time before opening up just to see where cases were at.
Many restrictions are being lifted Thursday in Ontario that were originally scheduled to happen on Feb. 21.
Under the next phase of the province’s reopening plan, capacity limits at bars/restaurants will increase, as will those at public and social events.
Capacity limits for indoor weddings, funerals or religious services, rites, or ceremonies will also increase to the number of people who can maintain a two-metre physical distance. Capacity limits are removed if the location opts-in to use proof of vaccination or if the service, rite or ceremony is occurring outdoors.
Public spaces such as sports arenas, concert venues and theatres will now allow 50 per cent of seating capacity, while indoor capacity limits of 25 per cent will exist in higher-risk settings where proof of vaccination is required.
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford said of the COVID-19 virus: “We've got to learn to live with this and get on with our lives.”
During Wednesday's call with reporters, Gardner said although there is “some degree of optimism, provincially,” he would've preferred waiting to see where provincial case counts sit.
“I often think of the modelling from the Science Table and given their timeline — and they were predicting it would be the next week or two that you would see a rise — I would have been looking for that. And if we continued to go down instead of up, then I would see that as a favourable sign we could begin to open up,” Gardner said.
“That would have given it another week or two, akin to the original timeline the province had in mind," he added.
As the colder months approached in late 2021, there was concern that COVID would spread more quickly, which it did in part to the Omicron variant and more people being indoors.
Gardner was asked what the summer could look like with the pandemic and various restrictions.
“Whether we see an increase in cases or in the wastewater monitoring showing an increase, we should have a better sense about how optimistic we should be in about a week or two," he said. "At this point, (summer) looks favourable."
But Gardner said the pandemic has been “ever unpredictable” and noted the five waves Ontario has already endured.
“COVID-19 has shown its ability to generate new variants that are more infectious than previous variants, so that possibility still exists,” he said. “There is always the question that if we do well in the spring and into the summer, what will come when the colder weather arrives in the fall.”
Gardner said he hopes people will continue to get their vaccination shots, including their booster shot.
