Niagara's household only dining restriction could be lifting soon.
Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mustafa Hirji says the region is approaching the metrics he had set out to lift the Section 22 dining restriction.
"We're now under 20 cases per 100,000 [people] per week. And I've set a benchmark of 15 is what we need to get to. So we're getting pretty close now."
The restriction limit diners to sitting with only members of their own household, with exceptions for essential social contacts or other people offering support services.
However, Hirji does voice concerns with the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, particularly as places like Halton and Hamilton are grappling with cases.
"One of the challenges of the Delta variant is we're not able to routinely test for it the way we are with some of the other variants. So we're almost looking for signs that there's a gap here in cases that aren't being identified as a variant that doesn't really make sense, and that gap then becomes likely the Delta variant."
He says the continuation of a downward trend is not guaranteed and urges people to continue to exercise some caution.
Click here to listen to Hirji's full interview with Tim Denis.