Ontario’s top health official recommends Ontarians to wear masks in all indoor public spaces

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health gave his first update in more than a month as COVID-19 cases spike across Ontario.

Dr. Kieran Moore is recommending people continue to wear a mask in indoor public settings, but there are no plans to reintroduce a mandate.

He says it is clear Ontario is in a sixth wave.

The update comes as a new report from public health Ontario links the province’s decision to lift masking requirements in most indoor settings, like restaurants and shopping centres, to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, test positivity rates, and hospitalizations.

The report calls for a return to indoor mask mandates, but Dr. Moore says a mandate will only return under certain circumstances. He still wants Ontarians to wear them in all indoor public spaces.

A new mandate isn’t completely off the table according to the health minister, Christine Elliott who says the province would reintroduce it if recommended by Dr. Moore.

In Niagara, medical officer of health Dr. Mustafa Hirji says the province should bring back the mandate, and if it doesn’t, he may do it for Niagara, but that approach will be less effective.

Moore says his team is working on a proposal to extend the mask mandate in high-risk settings due to expire on May 27th, saying it makes tremendous sense.