Ontario lifts mask mandates in most spaces, but it's no 'light switch' to life pre-pandemic, expert says
CBC
Ontario has lifted its masking requirements in most indoor settings including in schools, restaurants, gyms and stores as the province reported 551 COVID-19 hospitalizations and four more deaths on Monday.
The change comes a few weeks after the province lifted proof-of-vaccination rules and capacity limits.
Provincial politicians and top health officials say public health indicators have improved enough to remove mask rules, which have also been lifted in other jurisdictions across Canada and elsewhere around the world.
Premier Doug Ford has said he plans to keep wearing a mask in the provincial legislature "for the first few days" after the mandate lifts, stressing that people should be allowed to keep wearing masks if they want to.
Select settings such as public transit, health-care facilities, long-term care homes and congregate care settings will keep mask mandates until the end of April, when the province plans to put an end to all remaining public health rules.
Dr. Peter Jüni, who heads Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table, is still encouraging people to continue wearing their masks in busy indoor environments at this time.
"It's not black or white ... as long as we take it slow gradually, we should be OK," Jüni told CBC News Sunday. "It's just not pretending it's over, 'There's a light switch and tomorrow we go back to pre-pandemic.' We're not."
The province's top doctor has similarly stated that people must remain "kind, considerate and respectful" toward those who continue wearing a mask.
Dr. Kieran Moore, chief medical officer of health, has also said making masks optional does not signal that COVID-19 has disappeared or that the pandemic is over, but it means that Ontario has come to place where it can now manage the virus.
Some local health officials in parts of the province's north are encouraging residents to keep wearing masks in indoor public settings.
School boards that wanted more time to keep mask mandates have been ordered by Moore to adhere to the official end date, but the Hamilton-Wentworth school board has said it plans to keep the mask requirement until April 1.
Stephanie De Castro, a Grade 11 student at Senator O'Connor College School in Toronto, said "a lot" of students at her school walked into school wearing masks on Monday despite the mandate being lifted, including herself.
"I do think it's a little bit soon, especially after March break," De Castro told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday.
"I'm sure myself and a lot of students will keep it on."
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