Dr. Jim Chirico says the Health Unit will continue to monitor the situation in the region as the area is currently on pace to move into Stage Two of the province's re-opening plan.
This morning the province announced it is speeding along Ontario's reopening roadmap to enter Step Two a few days early.
The Premier’s office just announced the change in a news release circulated this morning.
Starting June 30, the province is lifting COVID-related restrictions further by putting the province in the second step of its Roadmap to Reopen.
See related: Province speeds up roadmap to reopen
See related: COVID-19 forces North Bay Jail to Close
Chirico says, for now, we will not be held back in Stage One despite his concern over 63 cases within the last seven days, a total of 77 active cases, and a local jail closure due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
"I know this is on everybody's mind for sure but at this point, we continue to follow the rules and we will monitor our situation closely and look at all the indices and at this point, there will be no change," said Chirico about moving into Step Two with the rest of the province.
"That is the plan right now and we are following it, but again things can change quickly we have to continue to monitor closely."
But Chirico, who has been known as being conservative with the region's reopening plans following lockdowns, admits that nothing is official yet.
"It will certainly have to do with our health care capacity and what we are seeing within the hospitals, what we are seeing within public health, and the ability to respond and the number of cases so currently we are on track to follow along with the province," he said.
