Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday that he is open to extending remaining mask mandates beyond a previous April end date if the chief medical officer of health advises it.
Mask mandates have already lifted in most settings in the province and are slated to be dropped in high-risk setting such as hospitals and long-term care homes on April 27. However many doctors have been urging people to continue wearing masks indoors amid a sixth-wave uptick in hospitalizations.
Many doctors and health professionals have criticized the province’s deadlines for dropping masking as “arbitrary” and have said it makes no sense to do so as cases surge and hospitalizations rise. Ford himself urged people to remain "cautious" heading into the Easter long weekend and to mask if it makes sense to do so.
While Ford said he is open to extending the mask mandate for high-risk settings, he reiterated the government's position that current infection levels can be managed with available tools, such as booster shots and antiviral drugs when asked why he isn’t extending masking in other settings such as schools.
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