More Ontario mask requirements to lift on June 11
Ontario’s top doctor has announced that most remaining COVID-19 mask mandates in the province will lift this weekend.
“With high vaccination rates and Ontario’s COVID-19 situation continuing to improve, most of the province’s remaining provincial masking requirements, including on public transit, will expire as of 12:00 a.m. on June 11, 2022,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said in a statement issued Wednesday.
- Download our app to get local alerts to your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The order was set to expire June 11, after it was extended in April. However, the Ministry of Health told CTV News Toronto earlier this week that Dr. Moore was reviewing and monitoring key indicators across the province before committing to the date.
Masks will continue to be required in long-term care and retirement homes.
Ontarians have been mostly mask free since March 21, when the requirement was lifted in public places like restaurants, gyms, and movie theatres.
Hospitalizations and case positivity rates did increase in the weeks that followed that decision – which the Ontario government said at the time was expected.
Since then, those COVID-19 metrics have significantly improved and ICU admissions related to the virus have reached a level unseen since last August.
Remaining mask directives at hospitals and other health-care spaces will also end on June 11. Those directives will be replaced by guidance issued by the health ministry for workers in those settings.
However, a number of major hospitals in Toronto have said they will keep their mandatory masking policies in place following the news.
The University Health Network (UHN), The Hospital for Sick Children, and Humber River Hospital all told CP24 that their masking requirements continue to be necessary as they care for their respective vulnerable patient populations.
Representatives for North York General Hospital and Sunnybrook Hospital also told CP24 they plan to keep their mask requirements.
Private businesses are free to implement their own masking policies in the absence of a provincewide mandate and individuals can continue to wear a mask if they so choose, the Ministry of Health said. The Ministry said it still recommends wearing a mask in higher-risk settings like shelters and group homes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
One dead, 26 wounded in overnight shooting in Ohio: reports
A shooting on a street in Akron, Ohio, killed one man and wounded 26 other people early Sunday morning, according to reports by local news outlets.
Ambassador says interactions with Russia 'quite limited' but 'not unfriendly'
Canada's ambassador to Russia says while Ottawa has 'grave concerns' about the Kremlin's 'longer-term trends,' the war in Ukraine is 'a primary barrier to a change in the relationship.'
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
South Korea vows 'unbearable' retaliation against North Korea over its launch of trash balloons
South Korea said Sunday it’ll soon take retaliatory steps against North Korea over its launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border and other provocations.
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.
Mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
Parachutists jumping from Second World War-era planes hurled themselves Sunday into now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, heralding a week of ceremonies for the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from D-Day beaches 80 years ago.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months