Huron Perth Public Health recognizes the lifting of public health restrictions in Ontario is good news.
However, Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Miriam Klassen, says that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods.
“Hospital capacity is not recovered yet. We’re not back to normal. Hospitals are working to ramp surgeries back up and clear backlogs, and there are still high staff absenteeism rates across the healthcare system.”
Earlier this week, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance reported that they are restoring services.
Dr. Klassen, says it may be appropriate to remove mask mandates for those at a lower risk of contracting the virus.
“The purpose of community masking, mostly, is to act as source protection. So I wear my mask to protect you, and you wear your mask to protect me. So my biggest concern with that is that there are still people at a higher risk of poor outcomes [if they contract COVID-19].”
Dr. Klassen adds, Huron Perth Public Health is reporting strong vaccination numbers across the region, with over 80% of residents over the age of 5 being fully vaccinated.
“Thank you to Huron and Perth for making it a priority to get vaccinated. By doing that, you have really helped interrupt the chain of transmission, you’ve helped to keep hospitalizations manageable, and you've helped save lives.”