Work brought me to Toronto early last week, and again this week. Since March 21, wearing a mask is no longer mandatory anywhere in Ontario, except in public transit, in the health network, in shelters that provide services to the most vulnerable and for home care. Since March 21, from what I have been able to see, people have been quite perplexed.
I wear my mask on arrival at the hotel, and a young, unmasked employee approaches me to take my suitcase. Should he have asked me first if I was comfortable? If I had been a particularly vulnerable client, how could I tell her to back off without making a scene? Has the management of customer service formulated instructions on how to intervene in this type of situation?
I arrive at the conference I came to attend. Some wear the mask, others don’t. Even before the end of the decree, we already did not know how to greet each other. Now the unmasked are also wondering how close they should physically approach the masked.
A group of co-workers who haven’t had a chance to get together “in person” in nearly two years want to take a photo of the reunion. The photographer suggests that they remove their mask while taking the shot. An older lady, in the middle of the crowd, tries to get us to hurry. There’s a problem with the phone, we’re fixing the shot. I see the lady’s discomfort. The wait drags on. We assure that there is “no pressure” if people are not comfortable getting closer without a mask, but social pressure does not dissipate so easily.
The photo finally taken, the lady moves away quickly. Did the group disrespect him? In a world where the mask is no longer mandatory, what rules of “politeness” apply in the presence of elderly people we barely know?
I go to the restaurant for an appointment. I no longer have to put on my mask to cross the few meters between the front door and the table at which I will be sitting, without a mask, chatting for more than an hour. When we understand that the virus is transmitted first and foremost by aerosols – and that the dining rooms are more or less well ventilated – we can sincerely doubt the real usefulness of the arrival ritual to which we were used to.
During the meal, my colleague tells me about the parents’ bickering at his children’s school. People particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 live with some students, and there is fear that children from families where health measures are taken less seriously will come too close or come to play at home. Of course, it’s difficult to explain to children, who may experience it as a rejection. And the adults, if they are at the political antipodes on the question, find it difficult to dialogue with respect. Here too, it seems that we would need a Small manual of social codes in the world after. We therefore negotiate on a daily basis, as best we can, as incidents occur.
Those who saw the end of the decree on the wearing of masks, scheduled for mid-April in Quebec, as a “return to normal”, risk being deeply disappointed. The Ontario example rather tells us that we can walk on eggshells together for quite a while yet. If we like beautiful discomforts, we will probably be served.
In early March, polling firm Angus Reid sought to better understand Canadians’ views on health restrictions. Already, 38% of Ontarians (and 31% of Quebecers) surveyed had declared having had conflicts or discomfort with friends or family members on the question of wearing a mask. Three-quarters of Ontarians (and 72% of Quebecers) agreed with wearing a mask in indoor public places. And 56% of Ontarians (and 38% of Quebecers) said they wanted to continue wearing the mask in public, even after the end of the provincial decrees.
Since this sounding by Angus Reid, the epidemiological situation has continued to evolve. The more infectious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant is already well established in the country. Both in Quebec and in Ontario, we are witnessing an increase in both the number of cases and hospitalizations. In Toronto businesses, well over 56% of people still appear to be wearing masks. The social malaise experienced with those who refuse to do so is likely to increase as a result.
In both provinces, health professionals are working to raise awareness of the importance of wearing a mask, government decree or not, while the premiers are still reluctant to officially speak of a sixth wave. We are told that the hospital capacity is large enough to accommodate this increase in cases. We are not told, however, of the waiting lists which have lengthened since the beginning of the pandemic, given the load shedding, and of the way in which these new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 can hinder the catch-up necessary for all these untreated patients.
For the authorities to really take note of this rise in cases and the consequences, they would have to agree to “spoil the party of a population largely too exhausted by the pandemic to once again face reality. In the meantime, everyone is more or less on their own.
Should Ontarians vulnerable to the virus now resign themselves to staying home or “pissing others off” by verbalizing their level of discomfort? And what will happen to Quebecers, who will experience the same situation if the government stays on course for April 15 for the end of its decree on the wearing of masks, even as COVID-19 regains ground?