The Ontario government’s decision to extend its remaining mandate for a high-risk mask until at least June 11 was met with mixed reactions over the weekend, with some saying the move was not enough to blunt the effects of COVID-19.
The rule, requiring masks in health facilities, long-term care homes, shelters and public transport, was due to expire on April 27th, but the government announced on Friday it would be extended as the province deals with the sixth wave of COVID-19 infections.
Andrew Williams, president and CEO of the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, said his organization “fully” supports the move, even as his hospital system – and several others in Ontario – already plans to continue enforcing masks.
“We were pleased to see that the government made the message that really helped our communications with our community as we continued to talk about the importance of doing all the little things right, including wearing a mask in settings like ours,” he said.
At four hospitals run by Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance in southwestern Ontario, Williams said about 100 employees left on Friday because they were sick with COVID-19, awaiting the results of their COVID-19 test or exposed to high risk.
He said the absences of COVID-19-related staff led to the closure of the emergency department at St. Mary’s Hospital. Marys Memorial overnight until at least May 2, with patients being referred to other emergency departments in the area.
“So that’s a significant problem,” Williams said.
“We see impacts on services and a lot of organizations are, and (that’s) another reason why we do things right, like disguise is so important to us.”
Doris Greenspoon, chief executive of the Ontario Registered Nurses Association, said her association called for the mandate of provincial masks to be maintained in all indoor to prevent an increase in COVID-19 cases.
She said it was “irresponsible” for the province to lift mask mandates in most indoor spaces – including schools and shops – last month. She said at least she would like the requirements for masks to be maintained indefinitely in high-risk conditions until public health indicators improve “significantly”.
“Let me clarify what we mean by nurses under improvement – this means that hospitalizations are not increasing, which is, this means that operations are not postponed and canceled, which is, this means that staff are not getting sicker. which they are, “Greenspoon said.
“And that means emergency departments don’t close because they can’t take care of people because they don’t have staff to close.”
The province said the hospital system’s capacity to care for patients remains high, so there is no need to return to a broader mandate. A spokeswoman for the health minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Toronto resident Maria Elizondo, who travels to work five days a week, said many of her fellow transit riders have already dropped their masks. She added that these people usually do not observe social distancing on trains or buses.
This left her in doubt about the benefits of extending her term.
“I mean, in theory it’s great, but in practice it’s useless because it doesn’t apply,” she said.
“People don’t wear masks and you feel uncomfortable.”
Tina McCulloch, who now drives a TTC three or four times a week since her Toronto office recently reopened, said she thought extending the mandate of the high-risk mask was “excellent and necessary”, but said she did not. there must be a “random date” to pick it up.
“When we stop wearing masks, we need to be based on the number of cases (and) hospital admissions, not the calendar,” she said.
However, McCullough said he usually feels safe when traveling by public transport, as he wears a high-quality N95 mask and walks away if another passenger is unmasked or coughs.
“Having said that, last week, when I was on a subway train full of violent, unmasked Raptors fans, I felt very uncomfortable,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 24, 2022.
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