Ontarians Must Continue to Wear Face Masks in High-Risk Areas
Recently the Ontario government decided to extend the mask mandate in high-risk areas such as long-term care homes, shelters, healthcare settings such as hospitals and public transit. Originally, this mandate was set to end on April 27th, 2022, but it has been pushed back for another two months.
CEO of Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance OHA, Andrew Williams remarks on his support for the extension of the mandate. Williams comments,
“We were pleased to see that the government has made the announcement, which really helped our messaging with our community as we continue to talk about the importance of doing all the little things right, including wearing a mask coming into settings like ours.”
Although many Ontarians are relieved that the mask mandate no longer applies to most public settings, there is still fear that one may contract the illness in high-risk areas. Ontario hospitals are still overwhelmed by the abundance of sick COVID-19 patients who need treatment for the disease. The Ontario government encourages the community to wear their mask in public settings, in hopes the extension of the mandate will provide some relief to health care workers and hospitals.
According to Toronto City News, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore publicly commented, “prudent, reasonable and appropriate…the majority of the cases will be back down to a very low endemic risk.” The public may not be happy with the extension of the high-risk setting mask mandate, but the government and health officials believe it is wise.
Alexandra Fuller who is the Director of Communications on behalf of The Town of Halton Hills Transportation and Public Works remarks, “the Town of Halton Hills adheres to the direction of the Province and the advice of Halton’s Medical Officer of Health. The health and well-being of our residents are always our first priority.” The mask mandates extension will affect public transportation such as the Halton Hills Transit Service Strategy or more specifically the ActiVan for seniors. ActiVan is accessible transit for the elderly that provides transportation for seniors ages 65+, which is considered to be a very high-risk age group. The goal of the extension mandate according to the government is to protect the high-risk individuals who will be affected the most.
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