The community spread of coronavirus appears to have slowed in most corners of the region, according to Waterloo’s top doctor.
Hsiu-Li Wang, the region’s acting medical officer of health, said that the end of the current pandemic may be on the horizon.
“Assuming the curve continues to go in the direction that we want or the curves, in a few week’s time, we’ll be in a better position to look at what we may be able to do to maybe relax some of the measures,” she said. “A lot of that will be coming from the province.”
Her positive news is in line with Ontario projections released Monday, which showed that the numbers appear to be trending downward towards a best-case scenario.
Wang said that the pandemic has still gripped long-term care and retirement homes so we can’t ease our foot off the gas pedal yet.
“It’s really important for people to understand that — you know the two are linked,” she explained. “We don’t normally have spread of COVID in closed settings.”
She continued: “It’s important that we continue with all our measures, even for community spread. It’s important that we not let up our measures because if we do that, it could go up again really rapidly.”
On Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that there could be a second wave of coronavirus next winter and the second round may be worse than the first.
Wang said that all levels of government are preparing for the possibility although it is tough to say if it will occur and how hard it will hit.
“That’s what the experts say could be coming,” Wang said. “But whether or not it will be worse or not, I don’t think that’s possible to predict.”
She said the impacts of the next wave could be determined by how the current pandemic is handled.
“That’s why right now we have to be focused on minimizing, as much as possible, the impacts in this first wave so that we can be better prepared for any subsequent waves,” she explained.
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