Experts divided on mask mandates amid COVID resurgence
By Mitchell Consky, CTVNews.ca writer
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Toronto, Ontario (CTV Network) — As hospitals across Canada face a resurgence of respiratory viruses, medical experts do not all agree that mask mandates are necessary to curb COVID-19 transmission in public settings.
Dr. Fahad Razak, former scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 science table, said “unprecedented” viral infection strength justifies the implementation of mask mandates in public settings.
“The reason I think it’s the right time to start mask mandates now is because we have very few options,” he told CTV National News. “The problems with capacity, with beds, with staffing — those are going to take years to address.”
Along with calling for mask mandates in public transit, grocery stores, and health-care settings, Razak said masking should be part of a wider strategy that also “encourages vaccination.”
This comes amid staffing shortages and limited capacities for patients in hospitals across the country.
Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ont., said he is more hesitant to call for a mask mandate that extends beyond health-care facilities.
“I would absolutely support people who want to wear masks in the community,” he told CTV News Channel on Saturday. “I have some questions about the feasibility and practicality of mask mandates again in the community.”
He added that he would be “hesitant right now to put out a real call for mask mandates [for] children.”
“I’m not sure that there is a universal acceptance of that kind of thing among families.”
Pernica also said he believes it’s important for health providers to wear masks, especially when they are taking care of children with respiratory and viral illnesses, but he is not sure what the overall benefit of masking in school settings would be.
“I think it’s hard to know exactly what proportion of transmission those [mandates] prevented. I have some questions about whether or not [those mandates] are going to be acceptable for the majority of kids and families.”
The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians has warned that the combination of COVID-19 and influenza transmission means this may be the worst winter yet for Ontario’s overburdened health-care system.
On Saturday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement she will “not permit any further masking mandates of children” in schools following a court ruling on the government’s decision to drop and block those mandates.
“We must turn the page on what has been an extremely difficult time for children, along with their parents and teachers,” she said.
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