Ontario Chief Medical Officer Says Mask Mandates Could Come Back if Necessary

Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore attends a press briefing at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto, on Dec. 10, 2021. Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health says as COVID-19 cases are rising, people should consider wearing masks indoors, adding that he would ask for mask mandates if the situation required it.

“If there is any significant impact on our health system where we can’t care for Ontarians appropriately, I will absolutely have the conversation with government (around) whether we have to mandate masking for a set period of time,” Moore told Global News.

Moore also expressed concern about the low uptake of fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses.

“Sixteen percent is absolutely not acceptable to me,” he told the news outlet.

In a separate interview with CP24 on Oct. 13, Moore said he sees a risk of a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and an increase in patients being admitted to intensive care units in the past several weeks.

At least 139 individuals have been admitted to the ICU in hospitals across the entire province in the morning of Oct. 13, Moore said.

When asked by reporters how the province will persuade people to get the fourth dose when the public has become increasingly reluctant to get another shot, Moore said the government is going to have “quite an aggressive communication strategy.”

“We’re working with our federal partners, as you can see [Dr. Theresa Tam] on TV promoting the vaccines. We will continue to promote the vaccines along with all of our sister health units across Ontario,” he said. “As we go indoors, we all have to maintain all those layers of protection, but one of the most fundamental is staying boosted,” he said.

“We’re monitoring the impact on the health system, and we will make recommendations based on data to inform Ontarians of when we have to mask up more,” Moore added. “Now that we’re seeing a rise in cases and impact on the health system, we should be masking as we go indoors.”

When asked if officials will publicly release the metrics used to determine when masks or other public health measures might return, Moore didn’t provide a direct answer, but said that recommendations will be made for the public when there is a surge in the collective number of patients being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, influenza, or other respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV).

“We’re monitoring on a daily basis the impact of all of the major viruses, whether it’s RSV, influenza, and/or COVID,” he said. “We'll certainly make recommendations if the collective admissions from all of those viruses are going up and having an impact. That’s preventable. So we will make recommendations to the public to mask up as we get further along.”