3 regional top doctors issue letter to Ontario urging reinstatement of indoor mask wearing

Following weeks of urgingthe Ontario government toreinstate some COVID-19 measures during a sixth wave, three top doctors have written the province's chief medical officer of health to ask that mandatory masking be reinstated in all indoor settings.

Each of these medical officershas signed the letter to Dr. Kieran Moore to emphasize their concerns aboutthe burden COVID-19 continues to have ontheir communities:

• Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, Windsor-Essex acting medical officer of health.
• Dr.Mustafa Hirji, Niagara's medical officer of health.
• Dr. Thomas Piggott from Peterborough Public Health.

For weeks, the three have been stressingthe need for a regional approach to dealing with concerning COVID-19 case numbers.

"We are writing today to commend you for your leadership last week ...to continue mask requirements in several high-risk settings," the letter says.

"We are also writing to you today to recommend that you build on this action. Specifically, to temporarily broaden the mask requirements in Ontario to include indoor public spaces such as workplaces, schools, college and universities, as well as essential service settings (such as grocery stores and pharmacies)."

CBC News reached out to Ontario's Ministry of Health for comment. In an email, a spokesperson for the ministry said, "Given the government is in caretaker mode for the duration of the provincial election, this media request cannot be accommodated at this time."

In a media briefing Thursday, Nesathurai said theletter was formally sent Wednesday evening.

"We're hopeful the province will take action moving forward," he said. "Looking where we are in the pandemic and our experience, I think it's still a worthwhile measure."

Ontarioscrapped most mask mandates including in schools, restaurants, gyms and stores on March 21. In April, the province extended its mask mandate for high-risk indoor settings.

The province's top doctor and some health units, including in Windsor-Essex,have strongly advised that mask wearing continue in schools, but haven't issuedan order or directive. School boards in London and Ottawa have issued their own mandates for staff and students.

Nesathurai said he and his colleagues have had continual dialogues with provincial officials, but felt sending a letter was a necessary step.

"I think it's our responsibility as public health to contribute to the dialogue of this matter," said Nesathurai, calling the pandemic the most significant health event of his lifetime.

The doctor said while he and his colleagues have the power to issue a Section 22 order in their districts to reinstate mask wearing, they feel a regional approach is best. The sectionof Ontario's Health Protection and Promotion Actgrants local medical officers certain authoritywhen faced with public health crises.

"The burden of COVIDstill remains significant to our society.We have to learn to live with COVID," he said.

"But part of learning to live with it is to identify strategies that will help mitigate the burden of disease recognizing it's likely to have increased level of activity and decreased level of activity."

Nesathurai said local and provincial data this week shows the disease is at a more steady level.

On Wednesday, Ontarioreported1,698COVID-19 hospitalizations and 31 more deaths linked to the virus,as the head of the science table says the provincehas likely reached the peak of the sixth wave of the pandemic.

• Ontario reports 31 COVID-related deaths as expert says province has likely hit peak of 6th wave

Dr. Peter Jni, director of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said hospitalizations and infections seen in wastewater data are gradually slowing down.

"I think we're on the right track," Jni told CBC News Network on Tuesday. "If it continues to [decrease], the way we are looking right now, we should be getting back to normal over the next few weeks."

But Jni warned "it's important not to get ahead of ourselves," addingOntarians should continue to wear masks and limit contacts when possible.