Moore says remaining mask mandates In Ontario likely to be extended at least to late May

Ontario’s top doctor told CP24 Thursday that the province is likely to keep its remaining mask mandates in place for at least an extra month given the high rate of COVID-19 spread in the province.

Mask mandates have already lifted in most settings in the province and had been slated to be dropped in high-risk setting such as hospitals, transit and long-term care homes on April 27.

 “We anticipate though that we will continue to mandate masking where the most vulnerable patients are; in our shelters, in our children treatment centers, our hospitals, our long term care facilities and in our public transit,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore told CP24 during an interview Thursday. “So we will maintain that level of masking after April 27 for probably 28 days, and then further reassess at that point so that the most vulnerable members of our community are protected.”

Moore’s comments come just hours after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he is open to extending remaining mask mandates beyond the previous April end date if the chief medical officer of health advises it.

 “I wouldn't have any problem at all with that,” Ford said when asked if he would be open to extending the mask mandate for high-risk settings. “We want to protect the most vulnerable, I've always said that from day one. But I'll wait for Dr. Moore to give us the recommendations. I have right from day one. And if he gives us recommendations, I'd be more than happy to do that.”

At a briefing Monday, Moore said that it “makes tremendous sense” to extend masking in high-risk settings beyond April. He said the current wave of infection is not likely to settle until mid to late May and that he would be passing along recommendations to the government soon.

Many doctors and health professionals have criticized the province’s deadlines for dropping masking as “arbitrary” and have said it makes no sense to do so as cases surge and hospitalizations rise.

While doing so is no longer provincially required by law, many doctors continue to urge people to wear masks indoors, especially in crowed settings. A number of GTA school boards have also said that they are asking all students and staff to continue masking, though the provincial requirement has been lifted.

Ford himself urged people to remain "cautious" heading into the Easter long weekend and to mask if it makes sense to do so.

“I'd say stay cautious, right, stay cautious,” Ford said. “If you're having 15 people over, put your mask on, right. It doesn't hurt if you're in a crowded room. We've been through this for two years now. It's common sense prevails. Right? Put a mask on. It doesn't hurt. That's gonna be up to each individual person.”

Moore echoed that message during his interview with CP24 later in the day.

“If you're at risk for this virus, at risk for hospitalization, please continue to mask.  Especially over these holidays, be prudent and cautious as you've been in the last two years,” he said. “Keep the social gatherings as small as you can. Outdoors trumps indoors as well. Anyone that's going to a venue or a social gathering should screen before they go to it. They should ensure if they have symptoms, they stay home, if they have access to an RAT (rapid antigen test) test they should use it. And certainly our other messaging is stay up to date for your vaccines.”

While Ford said he is open to extending the mask mandate for high-risk settings, he reiterated the government's position that current infection levels can be managed with available tools, such as booster shots and antiviral drugs when asked why he isn’t extending masking in other settings such as schools.

“We're going to take the advice of Dr. Moore, and I go back to the capacity that we have now compared to the beginning of this pandemic,” Ford said. “We have the capacity in the hospitals, we've hired more health-care workers, we have antiviral pills. You know, we're doing fairly well as a province in comparison to other regions.”

There are currently close to 1,400 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario, the highest that number has been since mid-February.