Ontario government facing mounting pressure to mandate masks

Several experts are calling on the Ontario government to implement a mask mandate on the public after the province’s chief medical officer of health issued a strong recommendation yesterday for people to mask while indoors.

The Ontario Liberals are calling for universal masking in many indoor settings such as schools and on transit.

Liberal MPP, Adil Shamji is an emergency room physician and calls for decisive actions to be taken for universal masking.

Dr. Fahad Razak, the former scientific director of the province’s voluntary science table, says the province needs a mask mandate to address the ongoing crisis within pediatric emergency rooms.

The chief doctor’s recommendation for masks comes as pediatrics hospitals have been under pressure in recent weeks due to an influx of children sick from COVID-19, RSV and influenza.

READ MORE: Ontario’s chief medical officer ‘strongly recommends’ residents mask in indoor settings

The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario is also calling on the provincial government to “immediately mandate masks”.

Association president Dr. Claudette Holloway says the government’s inaction to mandate masks to help health workers and children is both “reckless and alarming.”

Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kieran Moore said yesterday that he is “discussing and reviewing” the possibility of requiring masks in schools again, but only recommends indoor masking at this time.

Dr. Doris Grinspun, CEO of the nurses’ association, says delays in enacting public health measures have had dire consequences on vulnerable populations such as seniors in the past, and the government must act urgently this time to protect children before it is too late.