Toronto should drop mask mandate when province does, says city’s top doctor

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2022 (1488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Toronto city council will decide Wednesday whether to drop its own mask mandate at the same time as the province.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s medical officer of health, is recommending that Toronto’s own mask bylaw — which is in addition to provincial rules — expires as soon as changes are made to provincial regulations.

The province announced Wednesday it was dropping masking requirements for most settings, including schools, on March 21. Exceptions include public transit, long-term care, retirement homes, other congregate settings, and health-care settings.

On Wednesday, the TTC said through spokesperson Stuart Green on Twitter that they planned to keep masking rules in place on their vehicles through April 27, in keeping with the provincial announcement.

The additional report by de Villa posted Wednesday morning says that council should also affirm that “even in the absence of regulations requiring mask wearing, city council supports the ability for residents to choose to wear a mask” and to continue conversations with the province about the use of masks and “other appropriate infection prevention and control measures” in places like hospitals, long-term-care homes, public transit and shelters.

The city’s own mask bylaw, which covers public places and businesses in the city, was set to expire next month unless extended by council.

The report outlines that “Toronto is at a dramatically different point in the pandemic compared to when the mask bylaw came into effect” on July 7, 2020.

“In June 2020, there was limited knowledge of the COVID-19 virus, no access to vaccines, and very few members of the public were immune as a result of an infection,” the report says.

“The city’s mask bylaw was always intended to be time-limited and was enacted at a time when a city-wide bylaw was required to manage the significant health risks posed by COVID-19 when there was either no vaccine or, later, when the population was only partially vaccinated.”

Now, due to a high vaccination rate and declining trends in spread and hospitalizations, de Villa said the city can consider removing these rules “in concert” with the province.

De Villa’s report also quoted from recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that would put the city in a “low” level of community risk, which means that, if Toronto were a U.S. city, it would recommend the public wear a mask on a voluntary basis as necessary.

Regardless of any changes, Toronto Public Health is continuing to recommend mask wearing as one strategy to prevent infection, “particularly in crowded indoor spaces with limited ventilation” along with vaccination, physical distancing and outdoor settings for gatherings.

The new public health recommendations, if approved, would bring the city rules in line with the provincial decision.

Mayor John Tory, when asked if he would support extending masking rules for the city, said last week they would follow the province’s lead to avoid “confusion.”

With files from Ben Spurr

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @jpags