In the absence of a provincial regulation, several Ontario medical officers of health are considering imposing the wearing of masks locally. The latter are also calling for the return of the mandatory mask in public places, a message taken up by the opposition parties at Queen’s Park.
In Ontario, the mask is no longer required in most indoor places since March 21, and the Ford government has given no sign of wanting to reinstate the measure. Since the lifting of the regulation, the number of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 has doubled and the rate of absenteeism of caregivers continues to increase. According to tests of the province’s sewage, 100,000 to 120,000 Ontarians are infected with SARS-CoV-2 every day, says the leader of the Ontario Science Advisory Table, the Dr Peter Juni.
The duty reached out to all 34 public health units in Ontario to find out if they hoped to see a return of mandatory masks in Ontario and if they planned to impose their own rules.
Opinions are divided on the issue, with many simply wanting the provincial rule back. Some medical officers of health are considering, however, ordering the wearing of a mask on the territory for which they are responsible, a gesture authorized by section 22 of the Ontario Health Protection and Promotion Act.
The Dr Thomas Piggott, Peterborough Medical Officer of Health, is among the lot. “One of the biggest questions right now is: how do we prevent transmission during this wave with as little inconvenience as possible? Mandatory mask-wearing is one of the main ways,” he says. “A local action is definitely still on the table,” said Niagara Region Medical Officer of Health Dr.r Mustafa Hirji. However, it has not yet determined the threshold that would justify the measure.
A question of unity?
The Medical Officers of Health in the Peterborough and Niagara regions, however, much prefer the return of a provincial obligation.
“If I implemented something here, there would be mobility, people would be out of the region for work and therefore wearing the mask elsewhere would have an impact here”, explains the Dr Piggott. The Niagara region, because of the tourist industry, is also particularly susceptible to population movements, notes for his part the Dr Hirji.
The two medical officers are not alone in their camp. Sudbury Public Health openly calls for the return of mandatory masks in Ontario and says the duration of renewal “must depend on several factors, including epidemiological data”. “The province should put additional measures in place,” the Windsor-Essex medical officer of health said Thursday morning. Other offices are more cautious: medical officers of health in Durham and North Bay Parry Sound regions will be content to support the return of the mask if the government chooses to do so.
Regional agreements could also be made between the various medical officers of health in Ontario. “If the possibility of a local order is considered, we would like several health units in the region to implement it,” D.r Paul Roumeliotis, Eastern Ontario Health Unit. The Dr Piggott also claims to have already had discussions in this direction with some of his peers.
A noticeable absence
In the public arena, however, Ontario’s 30 or so medical officers of health cannot count on the voice of the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr.r Kyeran Moore. The latter has not given a press conference since the beginning of March, when he announced the end of the compulsory wearing of the mask in the province. Interview requests from several Ontario media have since gone unanswered.
On Tuesday, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott assured that it is the Dr Moore himself who chooses not to grant interviews.
“Ontario is in a very good position and will be able to get through [cette vague] “said Mr.me Elliott at a press conference on Tuesday. Hospitals across the province had some 1,126 COVID-19 patients on Thursday, a slight increase from Tuesday. In the Kingston area, where Dr.r Moore, the number of hospitalizations has declined since last Friday, despite the growth in the number of cases.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.