KITCHENER -- A Cambridge physician says the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions has helped bring down the number of people receiving hospital treatment for the disease.

"The lockdown seems to be helping our numbers and get us through managing ICU beds for sure," said Dr. Asim Masood, who is the Chief of Staff at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. "We are seeing signs of things slowing down a bit."

Dr. Masood said the lockdown, along with administering more vaccines, has helped ease the burden on an overwhelmed health-care system.

"(The) key is, vaccinated people don't end up in ICU for the most part," he said. "At least, I haven't seen in my practice recently. That is a huge benefit for vaccinations."

Dr. Masood added measures to help bring down hospital and ICU admissions are vital to make sure non-emergency surgeries can resume as soon as possible.

"We have around 2,400 patients in our backlog that have been booked and rescheduled," he said. "That is a big amount of work ahead of us."

The Ontario Medical Association said the province isn't ready to lift the stay-at-home order, and recommends extending current lockdown measures past May 20.