Lambton's medical officer of health suggests the Sarnia-Lambton community became complacent, leading to an alarming surge in COVID-19 infections.
With the number of confirmed cases one shy of a thousand, Dr. Sudit Ranade told a media briefing Monday afternoon that the area's impressive numbers in the fall, created a false sense of security.
"There's been a certain amount of feeling that we were sort of protected, that we were in the green [provincial level] for a very long time compared to other parts of the province, that maybe things were just going to work out differently" said Ranade. "We've shown that that's not true, I think we've also shown that the risk factors that we've been talking about since the beginning of this pandemic, remain the same, that they are still as much of a concern here as they are everywhere else in the province."
Since December 13, 2020, the number of new cases in Sarnia-Lambton has increased by 552, from 447 to 999 and the area is now among the highest in the province in cases per 100,000 population.
Weekly new COVID cases per 100K population in Ontario.
— Mike Haddad, MD (@MikeHaddadMD) January 4, 2021
Top 3 counties: Windsor, Peel, Lambton.
Courtesy @Billius27
@CountyofLambton @lambton_ph @TorontoIDDoc @BlackburnSarnia pic.twitter.com/sXdqBZSX4i
Dr. Ranade said the rising numbers are forcing a change in strategic thinking.
"And you have to move to a strategy that is about achieving some different goals, which are preventing deaths, which are ensuring that essential systems can still continue to function, and I think we are very quickly moving, if we haven't already moved into that space. What I mean by that is, not to say that people shouldn't be concerned about the cases, but to really recognize that the disease is circulating in our community as we've mentioned before, so everyone must conduct themselves accordingly."
Dr. Ranade said we need to make sure that certain groups of people are protected because the most consistent factor linked to mortality is age. He said transmission continues to be connected to people letting down their guard in various social settings.
Bluewater Health announced Monday it's reinstating enhanced visitor restrictions due to the significant spread of the virus in Sarnia-Lambton.
-With files from Colin Gowdy
