Moore attended an event put on by Toronto Life Thursday evening, which celebrated the city's 50 most influential people of 2022.
Ontario's top doctor was ranked 12th on that list "for keeping COVID under control." Doug Ford was 3rd "because, post-pandemic, he’s stronger than ever."
Dr. Kieran Moore seen at a Toronto party not wearing a mask. @torontolife | Instagram
Moore was captured chatting to people amongst a rather large crowd and was also caught on film watching a performer at the event.
Narcity reached out to Moore's office for comment and received the following statement from the Ministry of Health:
"Like all Ontarians, Dr. Moore evaluates the risk of each situation including private events. He follows many layers of protection including screening daily for symptoms of any respiratory infection, practicing good hand hygiene, staying up to date on immunizations, masking when necessary and distancing when possible. Dr. Moore continues to encourage everyone to use their best judgement on when it’s appropriate to wear a mask, particularly around the most vulnerable, including young children."
The statement did not directly respond to questions of why Moore chose not to wear a mask at the packed indoor event and is clearly at odds with Moore's ask of Ontarians just days ago.
"I'm reminding Ontarians to get back to using all the layers of protection that we know work to keep ourselves and others healthy," said Dr. Moore in a news conference on Monday. "I'm strongly recommending that all Ontarians — not just those at high risk — wear a mask in indoor public settings."
Moore's call for people to put their masks back on came because of the concern for the stresses being put on the province's children's hospitals, because of COVID-19, the flu, and RSV.
Quickly, the images of him led to reactions from many online, including other public health experts
"The CMOH doesn't follow his own advice on masking. How is this supposed to make the parents of sick children and burnt out healthcare workers feel as the number of PICU patients continues to exceed PICU capacity?" wrote Dr. Michael Warner, a critical care physician at Michael Garron Hospital.
This is not the first mixup with the Ford government when it comes to its stance on masking either.
One day after Dr. Moore strongly recommended masking indoors, newly appointed Health Minister Sylvia Jones referred to wearing a mask as a "personal choice."
