Joanna Dales started to worry about her young children as soon she heard of Ontario's plan to lift mask mandates in most settings, including schools and daycares, later this month
Her one-year-old daughter is set to start daycare on March 21 – the day the masking requirements end – and Dales said the removal of the public health measure has left her concerned and frustrated."It's hard to believe that they would take away something that is proven to help. I think a lot of people with kids under the age of five just, once again, feel left behind."
New parent Nick Lecuyer says the upcoming lifting of mask mandates is making him and his wife feel even more isolated. "People are saying that we have to adapt. I don't disagree, but I don't think it's too much to ask that we keep masks on until the under-fives have the opportunity to be vaccinated," she said.
The province said improving health indicators, such as a stable test positivity rate and declining hospitalizations, as well as Ontario's high vaccination rates and the availability of antiviral treatments, allow for the plan to remove most mask mandates on March 21 and end all remaining public health orders a month later.
For Shoshanah Jacobs and their partner, news of mask mandates being lifted prompted a decision to pull their children, aged four and seven, out of school.
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