Residents across the province now have the choice to wear a mask or not.
Residents in the northwestern Health Unit’s catchment area have been under a mask mandate since August 12, 2020, which was later issued provincially on October 3, 2020. It was in effect for a total of 586 days in the region and 534 days across the province, but was lifted on the morning of March 21.
We spoke with a variety of northwestern Ontario residents for their thoughts on the province dropping its mandatory mask mandate, and all residents spoke on the provision that they remain anonymous.
Many residents said they plan and look forward to removing their masks in most settings.
“After nearly two years of having to wear a mask in stores, it’s going to be so nice to finally not have to wear one. It can just be people’s choices once again. So, I will not be wearing a mask,” said A.
“Even though masks aren’t required in a lot of places, I’m still going to wear one. Mainly because I have two young children at home who aren’t old enough to receive a vaccine, and we have family members with compromised immune systems. It doesn’t bother me at all,” said a K.
“It will be nice to be able to see smiling faces and people’s reactions to your smiles. I think we’ve gone long enough with covering up our faces. It’s an important part of interacting with each other,” said another K.
But as many residents note, masks aren’t going away yet. Businesses still have the right to enforce mandatory masking if they choose to, in the hopes of protecting their staff and visitors, and masks will remain in high-risk settings like hospitals and long-term care homes until April 27.
“I think I’m still going to wear my mask, especially if I can’t maintain my distance from people. I just don’t have time for COVID. I’ve eluded it this far, and I don’t want it,” said J.
“I think I’m still going to wear my mask for a little while. I feel like the mask mandate got lifted too soon, but I respect everyone who decides to wear one and who doesn’t,” said K.
“I’ll still wear my mask when I enter a public setting with a greater population of people. I’m comfortable wearing one, so if I can help make other people more comfortable, I will definitely do that,” said R.
“I will still wear one out of respect for anyone who is in the high-risk category, and for the respect of family, friends and staff at stores that may have anyone at their place that is compromised or high-risk,” said E.
A number of residents say they’re happy to finally have the choice to wear a mask or not, and say they’re keeping a close eye on the COVID-19 situation in the region.
“I’m thinking I will still wear my mask when I go to a high traffic area like a grocery store. But other than that, I’m pretty excited to not have to wear my mask anymore,” said another J.
“I will keep wearing my mask while shopping and I still need to wear one while working, but I will remove it in restaurants and bars,” said another K.
“I think that I’m going to wear my mask for about a week before I take it off, and then I’ll try to take it off to see if I’m comfortable,” said another R.
Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory table also says even though mask requirements are ending across most of the country, they’re still a useful tool to protect yourself and others, and those who feel most comfortable wearing a mask and those who are considered the most at-risk should continue wearing masks as they see fit.
In a recent study of over 500 people, a cloth mask helped lower the odds of testing positive for COVID-19 by 56 per cent, a surgical mask reduced your risk by 66 per cent, while an N95 mask lowered your odds by 83 per cent.
As well, the NWHU is still recommending residents wear their masks, as they say the region’s case rate of 294.3 per 100,000 is the highest in the province, far surpassing Ontario’s average of 75 cases per 100,000 people.
The Science Advisory Table is also recommending that the province should be prepared to reinstate mask mandates, mass vaccination clinics and vaccine passports, if the new BA.2 variant of COVID-19 continues to spread.
Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the last jurisdictions in Canada to keep their mask mandates in place. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Yukon and Nova Scotia have all ended theirs.