Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, says the COVID-19 situation in Ontario is slowly improving, but leaders need to start looking at which public health restrictions should remain, and which restrictions need to be lifted.
“I want to thank Ontarians for the sacrifices that they’ve made that allowed us to get to this point,” Moore said, starting off his virtual press conference on February 3.
“Because of your efforts to help blunt the transmission of Omicron, our healthcare indicators suggest a general improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the province.”
His comments come as Ontario reports a total of 2,797 people with COVID-19 in the province’s hospitals, down from 3,645 one week ago.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says 56 per cent of hospitalizations are due to COVID-19 illnesses, while 44 per cent were already hospitalized when they tested positive.
“While the coming weeks will continue to be difficult for our hospital system, the number of hospitalizations is currently stable, and given current trends, we are more confident in our ability to ensure capacity across the province,” Moore says.
Ontario says there were 541 people in intensive care units, down from 599 one week ago, and about 83 per cent of admissions were directly related to COVID-19. The province also reported 75 new COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the total to 11,651 since March 2020.
“ICU numbers remain high, but the number of COVID-19 patients is now starting to decrease, and we have increased capacity to provide care to those who need it,” adds Moore.
While speaking at a healthcare announcement on February 1, Health Minister and Deputy Premier Christine Elliott said hospitalization rates and levels in intensive care units are both starting to decline, and Ontario’s hospitals do have capacity.
The province-wide test positivity rate is now at 13.2 per cent, down from 14.1 per cent last week. Ontario reported a total of 4,098 new cases, which is likely an underestimate, but Moore says it’s still reflective of a ‘real’ decline.
In a report from Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, they also say indicators suggest that this phase of the Omicron wave has plateaued or is in decline, and public health measures helped to control the spread of COVID-19 during this phase.
When touching on current public health measures, Moore has previously said the province ‘needs to change some of their thinking' when it comes to learning to live with COVID-19.
When asked to explain what that means on February 3, Moore said he believes that society needs to decide which public health measures they’d like to see maintained, which will ultimately help inform the government’s final decision.
“We really have to approach the reality that Omicron is highly-infectious and is going to be difficult to control and limit,” explained Moore.
“Now that we have safe and effective vaccines, inpatient and outpatient treatments, it comes to a time where we’re going to have to decide how many public health measures we maintain going forward.”
“It’s a discussion we’re going to have to have at the societal level of what our values are. The discussion has to occur, and I think it should happen soon,” he adds.
Ontario is still aiming to loosen restrictions by February 21, if public health trends continue to improve.
Indoor limits are set to move to 25 people, while outdoor limits grow to 100. Ontario may also look at removing capacity limits in indoor public settings where proof of vaccination is required, including restaurants, theatres and recreational facilities.
Step three of the province’s reopening plan is then set to take effect by March 14, where Ontario will remove all capacity limits in indoor settings, but proof of vaccination will still be in effect.
Ontario has not provided any timeline for removing masks or the proof of vaccination system, the latter of which Moore says could be ‘reassessed’ as two doses of the vaccine aren’t giving strong enough protection against Omicron, compared to three doses.
However, Premier Doug Ford has previously said he is against changing the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ to include a third dose of the vaccine.