The medical officer of health in Chatham-Kent says he has "full confidence" in the provincial plan to ease capacity limits at the end of the month.
Dr. David Colby said the rate of the Omicron variant seems to be slowing down but warns the plan could be derailed if things get worse and timelines could change if there are bumps in the road. He expects the current wave to calm down in a few weeks.
"Any timelines that are projected are based on extenuating circumstances. If our hospitals are overflowing and there isn't capacity, this is not a rigid rollout schedule," said Colby.
Colby also urges compassion for those unvaccinated following a survey that shows 54 percent of Canadians polled don't have sympathy for unvaccinated people who get sick and 45 percent don't have sympathy for the unvaccinated who die from it.
"Even though people might express some very harsh opinions on a paper or electronic survey, I think when push comes to shove I would hope we're not going to see any lack of compassion for our fellow humans," the doctor added.
Colby admits some mistakes were made during the pandemic but added it will end at some point and we will carry on with a new normal.
"Whether that is periodic vaccination against the variants that arise, much the same that we live with influenza virus," Colby said.
The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is reporting 31 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, adding 16 of them are being treated primarily for the virus while the others were admitted for something else and then tested positive for COVID-19. Hospital officials said 11 of the 16 are unvaccinated. They also report two unvaccinated COVID-19 patients are in the ICU.
The municipality is reporting 110 municipal staff are off work or working from home because of the virus, which is down from 170 last week.
Chatham-Kent Public Health has a technical glitch with its system and the Thursday COVID-19 numbers are unavailable.