Hamilton public health 'cautiously optimistic' about Ontario easing COVID-19 restrictions
Medical officer of health says balance between risk of infection and impact of restrictions is key
Hamilton's medical officer of health says she's "cautiously optimistic" about Ontario's plan to ease some COVID-19 restrictions.
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said the goal is balancing the risks of the virus with society's mental, social and economic needs.
"While Hamilton is past the peak and in the decline of the Omicron-driven wave, we do anticipate the risk of transmission will remain high through March as measures are lifted," she told journalists during a Tuesday media briefing.
The Ontario government will remove its proof of vaccination system on March 1. It lifted capacity limits in restaurants, bars, cinemas and gyms ahead of schedule la
While vaccine mandates won't be a requirement anymore, Richardson said employers should still consider how immunization fits in their health and safety approach for staff and patrons.
The province and local public health said people have seen the worst of this wave by now, despite there still being strain on hospitals.
Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) is reporting 70 patients with COVID-19 and seven in the intensive care unit. The HHS website says 183 employees are isolating. St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton has nine infected patients and two in the intensive care unit, while 48 workers are isolating.
To put that into perspective, HHS had 213 COVID-19 patients including 24 in the ICU on Jan. 14. There were also 634 staff isolating. At St. Joe's there were 102 patients with the virus, 16 in the ICU and 270 staff and doctors isolating.
Fort Erie's Urgent Care Centre is reopening after closing in early January because its staff needed to help other facilities.
But Richardson said there are still, on average, two new admissions into Hamilton hospitals per day.
Public confidence waning, survey shows
The media briefing follows protests in several regions in the county decrying the country's response to COVID-19 and new survey results from McMaster University that suggests public confidence is waning.
Surveys of 1,435 people showed more than 80 per cent of respondents said the government's response was effective in early 2020, but by April 2021, more than 80 per cent said it was ineffective.
"People are still following the recommendations, but they certainly do not feel good about the government's pandemic response at this point," said senior author James MacKillop.
Richardson and Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said they can understand how people are feeling. Despite that, Richardson said the province and the city has done "remarkably well" despite it being "incredibly frustrating."
"We want to reopen as soon as its safe and we're able to do that and some people find that a little risky on the other side … in terms of 'are we moving too fast, are we doing too much?'" she said.
"Collectively we've learned a lot and have a number of tools now to protect ourselves and one another as we transition and continue to learn to live with COVID-19."
Richardson said the city will have a stronger line of defence against the virus moving forward due to how many people the Omicron variant infected this winter and because of vaccination rates.
City continuing staff vaccine mandate — for now
Roughly 78.9 per cent of the city has at least two doses of vaccine. The number of people with third doses is lower, with 52 per cent of people 12 and up in Hamilton having received the booster.
Asked about lagging booster rates, she said it can be a hard decision for people to get another shot and said some age groups have to wait longer to get a third shot.
She added local retirement homes are set to get a visit from public health workers to get fourth doses.
The city and local hospitals are also still requiring workers to get vaccinated for now.
Eisenberger said there's a "concern" that if the province drops workplace vaccine mandates — something Ontario's top doctor said last week they are reviewing — it will make harder for the city to uphold its own policy, but also noted 97 per cent of employees have been immunized.
He added there's a good chance the city will review the mandate.
Six new deaths
Six more Hamiltonians with COVID-19 died over the weekend, according to local public health data.
The city has seen 517 infected people die during the pandemic.
Public health also reported six active outbreaks.