No plans to change Ontario’s COVID masking rules at this time, health minister says

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says there are no plans to change the masking rules in the province at this point, despite calls from the opposition parties to do so.

The Liberals and NDP are calling for mandatory masking to be brought back to essential indoor settings like schools, pharmacies and grocery stores, in an effort to curb the sixth wave of COVID-19.

“It is something that is voluntary, although most people are choosing to wear masks in crowded public spaces and we anticipate they will continue to do so,” Elliott said.

“Dr. Moore has recommended that masks don’t need to be worn, except in certain circumstances. Should Dr. Moore change his views in the coming days, we will be making those changes as necessary.”

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca said that with rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, ending all mask mandates in hospitals and long-term care settings on April 27 will be a “huge mistake,” adding that they need to remain in place “until this sixth wave wanes.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is calling on the Ford government to either reinstate mandatory masking in public places, including malls and public transit, or explain why they won’t do so.

Ontario ended mask mandates in most public spaces two weeks ago, except for public transit and healthcare settings such as hospitals and long-term care homes.

Both Horwath and Del Duca also urged the government to expand access to PCR testing so that people know when they are sick or contagious.

“It’s also time Ontarians stopped being forced to guess if they’re sick or contagious. Ontario Liberals demand that Ford Conservatives make PCR tests accessible to all Ontarians,” Del Duca said in a release.

The Liberals also want the province’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, to resume his regular press conferences that ended a month ago.

On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford came to the defence of Dr. Moore, saying he is “one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. He never rests. He works around the clock for the people of Ontario.”

Dr. Peter Jüni, the scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table, said Wednesday wastewater data suggests that currently, there could be up to 100,000 new cases in the province each day.

“We have more infections than we’ve ever seen in this province based on what we see in our wastewater,” Dr. Jüni told CityNews. “In terms of infection, we have never been as high as right now during the entire pandemic.”

Although hospitalizations are up 40 per cent week over week, he said this sixth wave wouldn’t have as severe an impact on the health care system given a “wall of immunity” built up through vaccination.

Meanwhile, the Ford government has expanded the rollout of fourth doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Starting Thursday, Ontario residents aged 60 and older, as well as First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals and their non-Indigenous household members aged 18 and over, are able to book appointments to receive their fourth dose.

Fourth doses are already available to long-term care and retirement home residents and immunocompromised people in Ontario.

– With files from Lucas Casaletto, Richard Southern, and Nick Westoll of CityNews, and The Canadian Press