Ontario will end the requirement to wear masks in most indoor public settings, including schools, on March 21, multiple sources say.
Sources tell CTV News Toronto and CP24 that the province will end mandatory masking everywhere except hospitals, congregate care settings and the long-term care system by March 21.
Users of public transit may still need to wear masks after that date.
Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore will provide his last scheduled public update about the COVID-19 pandemic at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, as he still must decide what will happen to mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirements imposed on sectors including post-secondary institutions and health care
The province is still detecting dozens of COVID-19 deaths per week, though the fatality rate has subsided from a peak in late January.
Access limits put on PCR tests more than two months ago mean Moore believes the province does not document as many as 90 per of new infections each day.
That ratio would suggest the province is still seeing 12,000-20,000 new cases of COVID-19 each day.
UHN infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said he believes it is too soon to lift mask mandates.
“I think based on where we are at in Ontario, it would still make sense to wear masks in indoor settings,” he told CP24.
The limited data on overall spread still available in Ontario suggests the decline has stopped recently, he said.
“Instead of seeing this plummet in cases, we’re actually seeing a plateau in cases and hospitalizations here in Ontario. This is the kind of thing where you want to see a sustained downward trajectory before you start to lift this final, light-touch intervention.”
Speaking to CP24 on Wednesday morning, Toronto Mayor John Tory said it was not likely the city would extend its mask bylaw beyond any date announced by the province.
“With respect to likelihood of the city taking a different path when it comes to masks, I don’t think that it’s likely.”
He said the city’s current mask bylaw expires in April, but a new measure before city council today would allow them to easily end the requirement on March 21.
“What is really important is that we have a consistent policy, so that people are not confused by one policy that is in Toronto, another one that’s in Peel and another one for all of Ontario.”
Tory said the TTC board will be free to make its own decision for public transit users in Toronto.
