BARRIE, ONT. --
One of Simcoe Muskoka's top doctors says while there have been signs of declines in cases, he doesn't believe restrictions will be lifted by the end of the month.
The province-wide shutdown that was implemented on April 8 is in effect until at least May 20.
With 95 per cent of cases in the region now the B.1.1.7 variant, Dr. Colin Lee, the region's associate medical officer of health, says more time and attention need to be given to reducing case counts further while increasing the number of vaccinated individuals.
"I think we are probably a good four weeks away before we're more comfortable with saying that this decline is for good and hopefully bring an end to this third and hopefully final wave," he says. "We do need to see sort of a steady decline to a very, very low level of cases and the acceleration of vaccine uptake. That's the one-two punch we really need."