OTTAWA -- The Eastern Ontario Health Unit's top doctor says he's "optimistic" about the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa and eastern Ontario, and he doesn't see the need for a full lockdown right now to stop the spread of the virus.
"At this point no," said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit's medical officer of health.
"But we have to look at the regional approach and if we see the numbers going in the wrong direction, of course that would be the next step but not at this point."
Dr. Roumeliotis adds instead of a "COVIDZero" approach, a more realistic goal is "COVID as low as possible" since the virus is still around and a vaccine is not available.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit region joined Ottawa in the "Orange-Restrict" zone on Monday, with new restrictions on indoor dining, gyms and fitness centres, and personal care centres.
Speaking on CTV Morning Live Tuesday morning, Dr. Roumeliotis said he doesn't expect Eastern Ontario to remain in the "orange" zone for a long period of time.
"I just looked at the data yesterday; and we're right at the line now, right in the yellow zone. I believe just a matter of time," said Dr. Roumeliotis, noting the cases per 100,000 people and the positivity rate have declined.
"The government wanted us to have a bit of a sustained downward trend, and I think we're achieving it. I'm optimistic moving forward that we're going to be revaluated this week or next week going into yellow."
CTV Morning Live host Leslie Roberts asked Dr. Roumeliotis if he believes Ottawa is also trending in the right direction.
"I think the numbers are starting to stabilize with Ottawa, so the seven-day trends are downwards so I'm optimistic for Ottawa as well. I think we're farther ahead into the yellow than Ottawa is in Eastern Ontario, but I think Ottawa is going in the right direction."
Dr. Roumelitois notes "yellow" is still a protective zone.
"Yellow doesn't mean everything is fine, yellow still means there are restrictions in place. Again, whether yellow, orange or even green, the number of people that can socially gather, the number of people that can get together outside of their home is limited and it should stay that way, regardless of yellow or orange," said Dr. Roumeliotis.
A new campaign started on social media this week called "COVIDZero", with the goal of achieving and maintaining zero cases of community transmission.
Roberts asked Dr. Roumeliotis if "COVIDZero" is attainable.
"I can tell you that, I'd love to have COVID zero, so would you. We want to get rid of COVID for good," said Dr. Roumeliotis.
"I think realistically speaking… I would call it 'COVID as low as possible', given the fact that the virus is still around and we don't have a vaccine. I think aiming to go as low as possible, control it, put out those fires, continue our vigilance going forward I think is the way to go."
