OTTAWA -- The president of the Ontario Medical Association says it was a "fairly courageous and brave" decision by the Ontario Government to lower the thresholds for COVID-19 restrictions under the colour-coded system.
Now, Dr. Samantha Hill would like to see Ontario introduce tighter restrictions on indoor restaurants, bars and recreational settings to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
On Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced changes to the thresholds in its colour-coded tiered framework, lowering the criteria that could result in more restrictions. Effective immediately, regions will be moved into the "red zone" when it reaches a weekly incidence rate of 40 cases per 100,000 people, instead of 100 cases per 100,000 people.
Speaking on CTV News at Six, Dr. Hill said the Ontario Medical Association is very happy with the Ontario Government's decisions to revise the criteria for new restrictions.
"It was a fairly courageous and brave decision to tighten those restrictions less than a week after they'd been rolled out. We also know that there is more work to be done," said Dr. Hill Saturday evening.
"We're going to keep advocating for better restrictions on things like indoor restaurants, bars and recreational settings. The reason we're going to keep advocating for things like that is because of the increasing evidence that these are the high risk settings that contribute to the spread of COVID-19."
On Thursday, the Ontario Medical Association, which represents more than 43,000 doctors and medical students in Ontario, issued a statement saying the new-tiered framework is "not enough to control the virus." The OMA recommended that areas in the "red" and "orange" zones should close bars and indoor dining altogether, instead of just restrictions on capacity and table limits.
When asked by CTV News at Six anchor Stefan Keyes if a lockdown is inevitable across Ontario to control the spread of the virus, Dr. Hill said, "No, absolutely not."
"In my medical opinion and as spokesperson for the Ontario Medical Association and multiple thousands of practicing physicals, medical students and retired physicians, what I would say is we're at a critical impasse," said Dr. Hill.
"The decisions we make now individually as citizens and collectively on behalf of the government and as societies will determine whether or not we will wind up in a lockdown two-to-four weeks from now."
Dr. Hill reminded people to limit their contacts with others, wear a mask and wash their hands to help control the spread of the virus.
The president of the Ontario Medical Association admits modelling showing Ontario could see 6,000 cases a day by mid-December was "really scary" to hear.
"What we do need to make sure we keep an eye on is the proportion of those patients who wind up hospitalized, or ICU admitted or unfortunately dead, because that's what tells us more about the end outcome," said Dr. Hill, noting there was a 10 per cent increase in hospitalizations and 20 deaths linked to COVID-19 in Ontario on Saturday.
"So I think we're in a space right now where we really know we need to move quickly to address the concerns and to limit the spread in the population, and that's why we're pleased to see that the province did do that."
