Masks will be required to enter Southwestern Ontario hospitals 'indefinitely,' officials say – The Beacon Herald

Article content

Masking requirements for everyone entering hospitals in Southwestern Ontario – including those in Perth and Huron counties – will remain in place “indefinitely” regardless of changes to provincial policies, officials say.

Article content

With COVID-19 hospitalizations on the rise since Ontario ended mandatory masking in most indoor spaces last month, hospital officials from across the region made the announcement in a joint press release Monday afternoon.

“Throughout the pandemic we have, as a system of hospitals, been continually assessing what we feel are responsible protections for our patients, our teams and those visiting our hospital sites,” Andrew Williams, the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance’s chief executive, said in a press release. “As the pandemic continues to impact our communities, including significantly affecting our ability to staff programs and services due to increasing COVID-19 absences, maintaining this level of protection in high-risk environments is prudent. While opinions on direction will always vary, our top priority is the safety of those we serve.”

The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance oversees four hospitals in Stratford, St. Marys, Clinton, and Seaforth. Also included in the announcement are:

Article content

Active screening of all individuals entering hospital facilities will also be maintained, officials said. So too will mandatory vaccinations for new physicians, staff, volunteers and contractors.

Ontario is expanding eligibility for COVID-19 PCR testing and antiviral treatments amid a sixth wave, but the province’s top doctor said Monday a broad mask mandate won’t be reinstated, at least for now.

During a press conference on Monday, chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said COVID-19 trends are rising and Ontarians should be prepared for a reintroduction of that mandate if a new variant of concern emerges, if the health-care system is threatened and potentially during the winter months.

Moore also said he strongly recommends people continue to wear masks in indoor public spaces.

The press conference, Moore’s first in more than four weeks, comes on the heels of a report by Public Health Ontario that shows COVID-19 cases, test positivity rates and hospitalizations have gone up since March 21 when the province eased masking requirements in most indoor spaces. It proposes bringing back indoor masking and extending masking mandates in high-risk settings as possible elements of a “layered” strategy to mitigate a surge in cases.

The report also warns that the number of Ontario children experiencing severe illness from COVID-19 is likely to increase given the increased transmissibility of the BA.2 subvariant of the virus, the removal of public health measures and the limited vaccine eligibility and two-dose coverage in those under the age of 12.

Article content

The BA.2 subvariant is now the dominant strain in the latest wave of the pandemic, the document says. The proportion of samples identified as BA.2 rose from 12.3 per cent the week of Feb. 13 to 54 per cent the week of March 13, it says.

Dr. Thomas Piggott, the medical officer of health for Peterborough, said the province should consider reinstating mask mandates and rethink its plan to lift remaining public health measures later this month.

“There are many concerns right now, both with the lack of masking in the current context and also the potential for increased removal of measures into the next few weeks, and I hope that there will be reconsideration to all of that given that the sixth wave is way worse than even the worst modelling scenarios from the Ontario science table,” he said in an interview.

“I think now’s the time to reconsider.”

The province has previously set April 27 as the date it plans to eliminate masking requirements in remaining places, including long-term care homes, hospitals and on public transit. Health Minister Christine Elliott said Ontario is “constantly assessing” that date with Moore’s guidance.

Wastewater surveillance suggests cases have been on the rise since mid- to late March. The scientific director of Ontario’s panel of COVID-19 advisers has said the latest wastewater data suggest daily cases are around 100,000 to 120,000.

COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 40 per cent last week from the previous one.

Last week, the province expanded eligibility for fourth doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to those 60 and older, as well as Indigenous residents and adult members of their households.

Moore said he got his fourth dose on Sunday.

-With files from the Canadian Press