Sarnia-Lambton's medical officer of health 'cautiously optimistic' for Stage 3
Lambton County will enter Stage 3 on Friday, while Windsor-Essex stays in Stage 2
Lambton County's medical officer of health says he's worried that more socializing may bring more COVID-19 cases as his region enters the next stage of reopening.
This new phase means the reopening of restaurants for indoor seating, movie theatres, playground equipment and gyms, but with measures of physical distancing. It also allows indoor gatherings of up to 50 people, and outdoor gatherings of up to 100, as long as people stay two metres away from each other.
Dr. Sudit Ranade says he is "cautiously optimistic" about the move, but worries about the mentality people might adopt during Stage 3.
"Socializing in those settings might drive infection rates, but also the idea of sort of the Stage 3 mentality that 'if I can go and do these things why can't I see more people? Why can't they have parties or socialize more,'" he said.
"And it's going to be that socializing behaviour — even outside of those settings — that are opening private gatherings, private parties, things like that that might drive the spread of infection and that's a little bit what I'm worried about."
Ranade says that Stage 2 has went "Ok" in the region, but the idea of more people congregating indoors is the issue for him.
"It's really more about the fact that when you're in a bar two things happen. One, the very purpose of being in the bar is socializing, which is different from the reasons why you go to other places. And the second thing is once you have things like alcohol and other substances on board it may interfere with your ability either to remember what the rules are or to follow the rules diligently."
Ranade said people will have to be vigilant at these establishments, and there is only so much owners and operators can do to ensure safety.
For now, wearing a mask indoors is not mandatory in the region, said Ranade, but officials in Sarnia are open to changing those regulations if people don't choose to voluntarily wear them.