With COVID-19 cases continuing to drop across the province to lows that we haven’t seen since prior to the emergence of Omicron, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford says now was the right time to remove Ontario’s mask mandates.
“I think that it’s time for us to move on. It’s time for us to see each other’s [faces],” said Rickford. “We have to build our confidence back up as a society. We’ve taken a very cautious approach, I think the right one, and after two years we have to trust ourselves and our common sense.”
As of March 21, Ontario says there are currently 551 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals, down from 602 last week. COVID-19 related hospitalizations haven’t dipped below 600 in Ontario since December 2021.
As well, Ontario says there are 181 patients in Intensive Care Units, down from 228 one week ago. That’s also the lowest number of ICU patients the province has seen since late 2021.
Rickford, who also serves as the Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, as well as the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, reminds residents that even with mandates ending, businesses still have the right to enforce mandatory masking if they choose to.
“Masking is a choice. I ask everybody to be respectful. Businesses may require them. I’m going to take my mask with me, but I’ve decided that I’m not going to wear it unless I’m instructed otherwise by a business,” said Rickford.
Across the province, masks are set to remain in high-risk settings like hospitals, long-term care homes and public transit settings until April 27. Residents in the Northwestern Health Unit’s catchment area have been under a mask mandate since August of 2020, which was later issued provincially by October of 2020.
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.
“There’s still some COVID out there, but I think we’ve managed this very well as a community, as a region and as a province. More than any other jurisdiction in the world, I think we’re probably the best positioned to make this important leap of faith,” adds Rickford.
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.
Although, Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has recommended 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.