Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health for Simcoe-Muskoka, where the Roberta Place LTC home in Barrie is located, said he would have preferred to keep the current stay-at-home measures in place for longer.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Local medical officers of health in some Ontario regions hit hard by COVID-19 are pushing back against the government’s gradual reopening plan, expressing concerns that it is too risky as the threat of more contagious variants of the virus loom.
The province has announced a timeline to lift the stay-at-home order for most of the province over the next two weeks and return to the province’s colour-coded levels of pandemic restrictions, which loosen rules for retailers and other businesses based on case counts, test positivity rates and hospital admissions.
But health officers in several regions said Tuesday the province should have kept the stay-at-home orders in place for longer, especially as many schools resume in-person classes this week and on Feb. 16 in the hard-hit areas of Toronto, York Region and Peel Region.
Their resistance followed the Toronto Medical Officer of Health’s warning of a “new pandemic” as coronavirus variants continue to pop up in the province, including the new British variant that was the source of a devastating outbreak killing at least 66 people in the Roberta Place long-term care home in Barrie, Ont.
Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health for Simcoe-Muskoka, where Roberta Place is located, said he would have preferred to keep the current measures in place for longer.
“I think there is definitely a risk being taken by the province in moving into the framework at this time as opposed to continuing with the stay-at-home order and the shutdown. We still have high numbers,” he said.
Lawrence Loh, Medical Officer of Health for Peel, said in a statement that even though his region’s cases are declining, it continues to have the highest incident rate in the province, and the presence of the new variants could cause a resurgence. He also said that combined with the return of students to schools on Feb. 16, there will be a “change in community interactions and movement.” He said he had recommended waiting two to four weeks before making other changes in order to weigh the effects of schools.
Mustafa Hirji, the acting medical officer of health for Niagara Region, said it would make more sense for his region to stay under a stay-at-home lockdown for several more weeks, until cases decline further and the strain on local hospitals and public-health staff eases.
Dr. Hirji also said he and other local medical officers of health were not consulted and were only informed of the reopening plans after cabinet voted to proceed.
“I think it’s absolutely a risky time to be doing this,” Dr. Hirji said. “If we reopen now, there’s not a lot of room for error.”
Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s Medical Officer of Health, also said the reopening plans are emerging just as her staff have recovered their ability to keep up with the task of tracing all the contacts of confirmed cases.
“It does feel rather quick to move back into the framework for us here in Hamilton,” Dr. Richardson told a media call, adding that the province’s “emergency brake” provision, in which regions could be put back into lockdown, was an important part of the plan.
The province said it plans to lift its stay-at-home orders for most of the province on Feb. 16, and in Toronto and York and Peel regions on Feb. 22. Alex Hilkene, a spokeswoman for Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott, said the changes will only go ahead if it is safe to move regions back to the restrictions in the provincial framework.
“This is not a reopening or a return to normal,” Ms. Hilkene said.
Three of the province’s local public-health districts, all in Eastern Ontario and with low case counts, will be allowed to move into the province’s lowest COVID-19 restriction level as of Wednesday, which allows for indoor dining and large group gatherings. One of the regions, Hastings Prince Edward, has issued an order banning people still under stay-at-home orders from booking accommodations, personal services or dine-in restaurant reservations.
Some other local medical officers of health made less critical but still cautious comments about the province’s reopening plans.
Wajid Ahmed, Medical Officer of Health for Windsor-Essex, said the region could end up classified in the province’s red zone of restrictions next week, meaning indoor dining and shopping would reopen but with capacity limits and infection-control measures.
But he also warned that the new variants could spread much faster than the original virus did in November and December.
“It’s a tough balance,” Dr. Ahmed told a teleconference with media this week. “And there is no right answer.”
Scott Cholewa, director of infectious-disease control for York, said the region continues to monitor its case counts as well as new variant cases " to ensure that they continue to trend in the right direction.”
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.