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Hirji fears reopening too aggressive, too soon

Dr. Mustafa Hirji (screenshot) The lifting of provincial restrictions that comes this week is premature, and too aggressive, says Niagara’s acting chief medical officer. Dr.
Dr. Mustafa Hirji (screenshot)

The lifting of provincial restrictions that comes this week is premature, and too aggressive, says Niagara’s acting chief medical officer.

Dr. Mustafa Hirji spoke to reporters Monday, after Premier Doug Ford’s announcement of lifting of  indoor capacity limits at restaurants, gyms and other places beginning Thursday, a week early. 

Ford is ending the COVID-19 vaccine passport system beginning March 1. However, the mask mandate will remain in place.

Further lifting of restrictions expected March 14 will also be fast-tracked to take effect March 1.

The positivity rate of infections is decreasing across the province, said Hirji, and downward trends, such as tests to waste water, look optimistic, but the reduced availability of PCR testing makes it difficult to know how accurate that information is. The number of new infections could be close to 30,000 a day, he suggests.

Although hospital admissions due to COVID are declining, they are not going down as quickly as he’d like to see, and are still higher than in the first two waves. “Hospitals remain quite stretched,” Hirji says. “It’s still a relatively precarious situation.”

Vaccinations are also falling off, and the provincial reopening sooner than expected sends a mixed message about the importance of vaccinations that could put people at greater risk, he added.

“On the one hand, the province is saying it’s fine to go into high-risk settings without vaccinations, and on the other hand, they’re saying everybody needs to keep getting vaccinated.”

Hirji suggested that while proof of vaccination is being eliminated in many situations, for those places of employment where it is still necessary, third doses, which increase protection against infection significantly, should be required.

“If the province is really hell-bent on getting rid of it, at least let’s incorporate booster doses into proof of vaccination,” so that three doses are necessary to be considered fully vaccinated.

Hirji said although he could prolong some of the measures in the Niagara Region, he believes it’s up to the province to set those broad regulations, and without adequate testing, there isn’t enough reliable data to see a pattern that justifies a local layer of restrictions.

He was asked pretty much the same questions and gave similar responses when interviewed Tuesday on CP24. He also spoke of the lifting of requirements for PCR testing for travelling, vaccinated Canadians, saying rapid tests are a good alternative, with a quick turn-around time.




About the Author: Penny Coles

Penny Coles is editor of Niagara-on-the-Lake Local
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