Ottawa's Top Doc Says COVID-19 Is Here To Stay So We Must Learn To Live With It

"COVID is not going anywhere anytime soon."
Vera Etches Says COVID-19 Is Here To Stay For Now
VeraEtches | Twitter
Contributor

Ottawa's medical officer of health has made herself very clear — COVID-19 is sticking around for a while, so it's about time we learn to live with it. 

Dr. Vera Etches said in a series of tweets on Monday night that we need a new approach to our pandemic response.

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We need to be learning to live with COVID, to coexist with COVID, with caution. Dr. Vera Etches

After realizing her tweet had caused some concern, she clarified her statement.

"What I am saying is that COVID is not going anywhere anytime soon and we must learn to live with the presence of the virus in our community."

"This doesn’t mean we should let our guard down or become complacent," Dr. Etches notes.

"On the contrary, we must continue to take those individual actions to protect each other."

Dr. Etches outlined this during Ottawa's Board of Health meeting on Monday, saying that after Ontario's modified stage 2 closures are over, we must use this approach as our new way forward.

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