Dr. Moore appears maskless at indoor party after recommending public masking

Ontario’s top doctor is taking some heat after appearing at a public event without a mask on after recommending public masking in indoor settings days earlier.

Dr. Kieran Moore was spotted with no mask on in a video taken at a busy indoor gathering on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 17. It was on Monday, Nov. 14 when he “strongly recommended” Ontarians mask up indoors in an effort to help overwhelmed children’s hospitals.

“I’m very concerned about protecting our children right now, and it’s best that we protect them through masking in a home environment and in any social situation,” Moore said in a news conference. 

Thursday night’s Toronto Life event was celebrating the ’50 most influential Torontonians,’ where Moore placed 12th. The magazine said he was influential for “keeping COVID-19 under control.”

The video captured Moore watching a performance with a drink in hand while next to several other attendees who were also maskless.

NEW – Dr. Moore’s office in statement to City News “Like all Ontarians, Dr. Moore evaluates the risk of each situation including private events” “Dr. Moore continues to encourage everyone to use their best judgement on when it’s appropriate to wear a mask” https://t.co/yc5NgfX6Ou

— Richard Southern (@RichardCityNews) November 18, 2022

In a statement sent to CityNews, the Ministry of Health said Dr. Moore evaluates the risk of each situation, including private events.

“He follows many layers of protection, including screening daily for symptoms of any respiratory infection, practicing good hand hygiene, staying up to date on immunizations, masking when necessary and distancing when possible,” a Ministry spokesperson said.

“Dr. Moore continues to encourage everyone to use their best judgement on when it’s appropriate to wear a mask, particularly around the most vulnerable, including young children.”

Premier Doug Ford, who appeared maskless along with most of his cabinet in Queen’s Park this week, downplayed the significance of footage posted online, saying masking is a personal choice for the people of Ontario after enduring two-and-a-half years of a pandemic.

“If you’re around vulnerable people and you’re around young people, that is going to be your choice,” Ford said in response.

“The people of Ontario have been through two and a half years of this. They know if they need a mask. That’s going to be up to them.”

Moore called out for not following his own advice

Dr. Adil Shamji, the member of provincial parliament (MPP) for Don Valley East and the Ontario Liberal Party health critic, called it a “hard video to watch” given Moore’s call earlier this week to wear a mask within a closed environment.

“To be fair, in the video, he seems to be holding a glass and presumably drinking something, and you can’t drink with a mask on,” Shamji tells CityNews 680’s, Richard Southern.

“But the videos also seem to suggest that he was in a large, crowded, indoor room for a sustained period of time, and that to me seems like a high-risk environment and seems to fly in the face of the advice he had shared with the public just three days earlier.”

Shamji adds Moore’s actions should not undermine the key public health message, which is aimed at protecting children and preserving capacity in the healthcare system.

“We need to lead by example, and certainly, I would hope and expect that the chief medical officer of health would lead by example,” said Shamji. “We can’t just talk the talk, we need to walk the walk.”

Dr. Michael Warner, medical director of critical care at Michael Garron Hospital, took to Twitter to criticize the chief medical officer for not following his own advice.

“How is this supposed to make the parents of sick children and burnt-out healthcare workers feel as the number of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients continues to exceed capacity?” Warner asked in a tweet.

Some major children’s hospitals in the province have had to cancel non-urgent surgeries in order to redeploy staff to the emergency department and intensive care units that are operating over capacity.

Hospitals across the province have been overburdened with influenza, RSV, COVID-19 and other infections, which has led to growing calls for mask mandates.

Moore stopped short of a mandate when he made his recommendation earlier this week but did say he is “discussing and reviewing” the possibility of requiring masks in schools again.

The Registered Nurses Association says the Ford government’s inaction to mandate masks to help healthcare workers and children is both “reckless and alarming.”

With files from Richard Southern and The Canadian Press.