Ontario Concluding COVID Restrictions
In an announcement on Wednesday, March 9th, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health outlined the province’s plan to revoke provincial mask mandates on March 21st and remaining COVID restrictions will be removed by April 27th. The province cited a stable test positivity rate, declining hospitalizations, high vaccination rate in the province, and the availability of anti-viral treatments. According to the Ontario Science Table, the concentration of COVID in the province’s wastewater has also been steadily declining since it peaked in early January. The expiry of the mask mandate is also coupled with a reduction in the provincial guidelines for symptom screening and self-isolation. It is also still true that the testing numbers are not indicative of the actual case numbers due to the severely reduced testing capacity of the province. Minister of Health Christine Elliott also added today that the province will not be resuming widespread PCR testing since the province still does not have the adequate capacity.
Dr. Peter Juni of the Ontario Science Table has said that the end of the mask mandate has come too early; a sentiment echoed by the Elementary Teachers ‘Federation of Ontario, infectious diseases physician Dr. Gerald Evans, and infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. The Ford government maintains the science is on their side and it very well may be, but it is hard to believe anything done by the provincial government is done in good faith with a June election looming.
With the stable positivity rate and the decline in wastewater concentration, it is easy to think that maybe the worst is behind us. With hospitalizations continuing to decline it is even easier to forget about the issues still associated with hospital capacity. The decision to end masks and then all restrictions in April may turn out to be the right decision. At the current moment, it does still feel like a bit of a gamble. Hopefully the BA.2 subvariant does even up being less virulent, as projected, as it becomes the dominant strain. Dr. Moore also left the door open for future mask mandates should the need arise. It feels like Ontarians are always hoping for the best and preparing for the worst while our government does the same just without the preparing for the worst bit. We’ll see what happens. Here’s hoping for a peaceful, healthy, and safe spring/summer!