Ontario’s top doctor has given his first COVID-19 update in a month. He has issued a strong recommendation for people to continue wearing masks.
Ontario is in the sixth wave of the pandemic. Case numbers and hospital admissions are rising. That wasn’t unexpected.
The government of Premier Doug Ford ended the mask mandate for most indoor settings about three weeks ago, except for public transit and other high-risk settings.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said the further removal of those mask mandates, which were to be lifter later this month, is now under review. And with numbers climbing, Moore said there are things people can and "should" do.
“These include a strong recommendation to continue wearing a well-fitted three-layer mask or use of a medical mask in all public indoor settings. While we are not be reinstating a broad mask mandate at this time, we should all be prepared that we may need to resume a requirement for mask wearing in indoor public spaces if a new variant emerges,” he said.
Last week, the Ontario Science Advisory Table suggested the province could see as many as 120,000 new cases a day based on waste water analysis.
Moore acknowledged there is a rise in hospital and ICU admissions, and that will likely continue for the next several weeks.