Mississauga's mayor says province might be lifting mask mandate 'too soon'

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is expressing concerns about the province’s decision to lift the mask mandate in most settings as of March 21 , telling reporters that she finds it to be a “bit too soon” given that proof of vaccination requirements were only recently removed.

Crombie made the comment during a briefing at Mississauga City Hall on Thursday morning.

“It's clear that we all have the right ingredients in place to start getting back to normal. But I entirely understand why some people think lifting the mask mandate on March 21 is a bit too soon. Frankly, I do too, particularly because we just eased the last remaining capacity limits on businesses and other settings as well as proof of vaccination requirements and haven't had a chance to see what the impacts might be on our hospitals,” she said. “Right now they're in a good place but we still need time to recover and ramp back up to full surgical capacity.”

The Ford government has said that it will lift the mask mandate in most settings, including schools, as of March 21.

The mandate will then remain in effect for a number of high-risk settings, including public transit, long-term care and retirement homes, health-care settings, congregate care settings, shelters and jails, until April 27.

Speaking with reporters, Crombie said that she does “anticipate” that Mississauga City Council will vote to lift a local masking bylaw when they meet on March 23 in order to be in alignment with the province.

But she also expressed unease at the pace at which some restrictions are being lifted and said that the province should consider keeping mandatory masking in place in the remaining high-risk settings past April 27 “should health trends warrant.”

“The reality is that very soon masking will be about choice and I encourage people to do what they are comfortable with,” she said. “But we know COVID is not over yet and it is not going away anytime soon. We're still seeing lots of people contracting it each and every day. So it is important that we all do our part to keep our friends, neighbours, colleagues and the community safe and the truth is that many people in our community are immunocompromised and still uncomfortable in settings where not everyone is masked. We should all respect that.”

The Ford government’s decision to lift the mask mandate comes amid a significant decline in hospitalizations.

As recently as Jan. 22 there were more than 4,000 people in hospitals testing positive for the virus but as of today that number has dropped to 742.

In an interview with CP24 earlier on Thursday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore conceded that “there is controversy with every decision” but stressed that Ontario is in a “very good place” right now that allows it to safely begin to lift the mask mandate.

“The risk has decreased on hospitals so significantly that it's difficult to mandate (masks),” he said.

Ontarians have been required by law to wear masks in indoor public settings since July, 2020.