Most Of Ontario's Remaining Mask Mandates Are Lifting This Weekend & Here's What That Means
Masks will only be required in specific settings.
Dr. Kieran Moore talking. Right: Masked pedestrians.
Ontario's mandatory mask mandate, a staple restriction of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be scrapped this weekend and here's what is changing.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health, announced via press release on Wednesday that the province would be lifting its last remaining masking requirements on Saturday.
"With high vaccination rates and Ontario's COVID-19 situation continuing to improve, most of the province's remaining provincial masking requirements, including on public transit, will expire as of 12:00 a.m. on June 11, 2022," Moore said.
As a result, the only places masks will be required are in long-term care and retirement homes. However, the government still strongly recommended face-coverings in shelters, group homes and other high-risk living settings.
The Ministry of Health will revoke the remaining COVID-19 directives, replacing them instead with guidelines for health care workers.
The new initiative will instruct organizations and employees on when masks should be worn in hospitals and other health care settings.
"While masking requirements are expiring, organizations may implement their own policies. Ontarians should continue to wear a mask if they feel it is right for them, are at high risk for severe illness, recovering from COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or are a close contact of someone with COVID-19," he adds.
Moore continues to warn sick Ontarians to stay inside and advises anyone who hasn't done so to get vaccinated.
"Staying up to date with vaccination is the best protection against severe outcomes and will help us maintain the progress we have made," he concluded.