Mask Mandates Don't Need To Be Brought Back According To Ontario Health Minister
"Ontario is in a very good place and we will be able to get through.”
Mask mandates were lifted last month, and despite the rise in COVID-19 cases, health officials say there isn't a need for mask mandates to be reinstated in Ontario.
Minister of health Christine Elliott confirmed to reporters at Queen's Park on April 5 in a video captured by CityNews that masks don't need to be brought back according to advice from Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health.
"Dr. Moore has indicated that we don't need to bring back the mask mandate, and he has said in the past that we should have expected that the numbers would go up as we open up Ontario," said Elliott.
Elliott says, despite the spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, "Ontario is in a very good place, and we will be able to get through this."
Regarding increasing hospitalizations, Elliott says it's not "unanticipated that this would happen."
"This is something that when your opening up the province to the degree that we have and with the transmissibility of this virus that we expected to see the numbers increase, but we have over 3,100 extra beds. We have the capacity."
Elliott went on to say that she continues to wear a mask in public spaces and that those who decide to remain wearing a mask in public should be treated kindly as the decision to wear or not wear one is a "personal choice."
The government of Ontario reported 3,444 new cases of COVID-19 on April 6, marking a 72.98% increase in cases compared to April 5.
As of April 6, there were 1,074 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and 168 people are in the ICU due to COVID-19 related illness, according to the Ontario government.