Ontario's top doctor 'starting to have much more hope' on COVID-19

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is sounding a tone of optimism nearly two weeks after the province instituted a modified lockdown to slow the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

“I’m starting to have much more hope,” Dr. Kieran Moore told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll on Monday. “The number of cases is decelerating instead of accelerating in terms of hospitalizations and ICUs.”

Moore said the newest numbers he saw Monday morning show a slight decrease in the total number of people in Ontario’s ICUs.

That, along with other indicators such as declining test positivity rates, provides him with some hope that the new restrictions the province instituted in early January are working, he said.

“Our goal was to blunt the impact in these two weeks going forward, the 17^th to 31^st, and I think we’re starting to see the effects,” Moore said.

The restrictions starting Jan. 5 closed restaurants, gyms and other businesses and limited gatherings. The province also shut schools down until Monday, although the snowstorm across much of the province has delayed the return of in-person learning until Tuesday.

Moore said the health system continues to be pushed to capacity with surging ICU rates and staffing shortages due to Omicron.

“We didn’t know when it would end. But I do think that the sacrifices Ontarians have made have made an impact, and the amount of spread of the virus is slowing.”

In Ottawa, the city’s wastewater surveillance program has shown signs that the viral load may have peaked.

Moore did not say when restrictions could be loosened, saying it’s a government decision.

“We’re always cautious and this virus continues to humble me on a regular basis, but I think the sacrifices that Ontarians have made in the last two weeks are showing.”