Bluewater Health's president and CEO says Sarnia-Lambton's COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population has dropped by over 60 per cent.
Mike Lapaine, on CHOK with Sue Storr Wednesday morning, said he's encouraged and cautiously optimistic how the numbers are trending.
"I think, when we last spoke, Lambton county was probably one of the top three in the province for case rates per 100 thousand. We were right up there with Toronto and Peel which was quite worrisome," said Lapaine. "I just saw some data from yesterday and we're now down to about 87 cases per 100 thousand. We've dropped about 62 per cent, so we're way down the list which is where we want to be."
Lapaine said that just two weeks ago they were at peak demand for beds at the Sarnia hospital and ICU was running at over 100 per cent.
This week things are much improved as all hospitals in the region have some capacity and we're in pretty good shape today. We still have several weeks of tough winter yet, but we are encouraged by the signs we're seeing," he said.
Bluewater Health is still dealing with a COVID outbreak declared January 22 affecting two patients and six staff in the General Medicine Unit. Despite that, Lapaine assured the public the hospital is very safe and residents should not risk their health by being afraid to come to the hospital for treatment.
Ontario hit a seven-week low Wednesday, reporting 16-hundred and 70 new cases and another 49 deaths. Lambton Public Health reported just two new confirmed cases.
-With files from Sue Storr
