TORONTO – The controversy was not long in coming. Just a day after Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Kieran Moore announced the lifting of the obligation to wear a mask on public transport and in many health facilities, the new director of the Ontario Science Advisory Table Fahad Razak attacked this decision. “The provincial requirement could have been extended for at least another four weeks to help relieve some of the pressure on hospitals that will now have to enforce their policies on masks – said the doctor interviewed by CBC Radio – I am heartened to see that many hospitals have already announced that they will continue to impose them”.
Razak, who is also an internist at Unity Health Toronto, said that while key indicators including wastewater data, positivity rate, hospitalizations and ICU admissions suggest that the Covid situation is improving, there is still a lot of pressure on hospitals having to deal with staff who are sick or stressed. “Many people in the health care community, myself included, think that probably the obligation could have been maintained longer,” Razak said.
Meanwhile, even if starting on Saturday the government has revoked the obligation to wear a mask on public transport and in many health facilities, there are many hospitals that have decided to continue to request its use.
Moore, however, seems to be convinced that masks should be worn only in long-term care homes and nursing homes. “Given the high vaccination rates and the Covid-19 situation that continues to improve in Ontario, most of the remaining provincial mask requirements, including on public transportation, will expire on June 11, 2022,” Moore said in a statement. Excluded from the obligation – even if the use of the mask is recommended – are public transport, hospitals, reception centers and family homes.
“Even if the mask obligation is ending, organizations can put their own policies in place. Ontario residents should continue to wear a mask if they feel it is right for them, if they are at serious risk of serious illness, if they are recovering from a Covid infection, if they experience symptoms of the virus or have come into contact with someone infected,” Moore said.
“I think Dr. Moore believes that we have come to a point where we can abandon the mask obligation, this is fantastic news but particularly fragile people are not out of danger at all – said the president of the University Health Network (UHN) Kevin Smith – the University Health Network has considered very carefully how to best protect its patients, but also how to protect personnel who are very vulnerable and absolutely necessary.”
And the list of hospitals that has decided to keep the obligation to wear masks in force is very long. These include Humber River Hospital, North York General Hospital, Sunnybrook Hospital, Women’s College Hospital, Mackenzie Health Hospitals and hospital for Sick Children.
Palliative care doctor Amit Arya, since the province’s decision to eliminate the mandatory use of masks could favor the outbreak of virus outbreaks, said he was happy to see that various hospitals will continue to impose them. Then there are those who, like the infectious disease specialist Adbu Sharkawy, believe that masks should continue to be mandatory especially in closed environments frequented by fragile people.
