The Medical Officer of Health for Huron Perth Public Health says she believes it was time to move into Phase 2 of the COVID-19 recovery.
Huron and Perth were part of the regions across the province that started the process on Friday.
Dr. Miriam Klassen points out it took a lot of hard work and sacrifices on the part of the residents of Huron and Perth and the rest of the province to flatten the curve and make the transition possible.
She said, for the most part, our health care system has not been overwhelmed.
"I think we have prevented many infections. We've spread them out and so our efforts have been successful and that took a lot of sacrifice. And it came with a cost, both economic and social," said Dr. Klassen.
Klassen added most people recognize that social isolation and economic hardship also impact health and well being.
"So now we're at the point where, in this wave, it would appear that the peak of the epidemic has passed. The viral load in our community is lower, it's not zero. But we can move forward, safely into phase two, if we all continue to follow the public health measures," added Klassen.
Klassen says as we move into phase two we also move into a new normal and while we can now do things we haven't been able to do for the last few months, we should still exercise caution and minimize social interaction to prevent the virus from rebounding.