BREAKING: Ontario to lift most COVID-19 mask mandates on March 21, top doctor says
Starting March 21, masks will no longer be required in schools, restaurants and bars, gyms and movie theatres across the province.Masks and face coverings will still be required in places like public transit, long-term care homes, health-care settings, and shelters until April 27 -- when the requirement will end in those settings as well.
Also, the Reopening Ontario Act , which allows the government to issue public health directives at the provincial level, will expire on March 28. A final extension of all the emergency orders in place under the ROA will be in effect for 30 days after that date. Wednesday’s announcement comes after the province ended its mandatory proof of vaccination requirement to enter most non-essential businesses on March 1. Capacity limits and physical distancing requirements were also lifted at that time.
The number of hospitalizations and ICU admissions related to COVID-19 in Ontario has been dropping since mid-January and the province has said that the peak of the Omicron variant is “behind us,” thanks to time-limited public health measures and high vaccination rates. As well, the presence of COVID-19 in wastewater sites, which health officials use to collect data on the transmission of the novel coronavirus, has started to decrease.
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