Federal health officials are once again telling Canadians to mask up indoors, while local officials are examining a return to mask mandates.
In an update on Thursday, Canada’s chief public health officer Theresa Tam said multiple layers of “protection” will be needed in the coming weeks to reduce the impact of a fall surge of COVID-19 and influenza, echoing pandemic-era comments.
“Although no individual layer of protection is perfect, when used consistently and together, vaccine plus layers can provide excellent protection against COVID-19 as well as other infectious diseases we may encounter,” Tam said.
Canada’s provinces dropped their mask mandates earlier this year. No provinces currently have a mask mandate.
But Toronto’s public health board has told Ontario’s province’s top doctor to “urgently explore” reinstating mask mandates, beginning with local schools. Dr. Kieran Moore has said a decision on masking could come within a few weeks.
Alberta is likely safe from mask mandates, as its new Premier, Danielle Smith, campaigned for the party leadership on promises to do away with COVID-19 restrictions. She recently said she won’t permit masking for kindergarten to grade 12 students.
Tam, meanwhile, also wants Canadians to remain up to date on their COVID boosters.
Data released mid-October shows 83% of Canadians have not received a COVID vaccine in six months or more.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already threatened to take away Canadians’ freedoms unless they get vaccinated regularly and keep “up-to-date” on the booster shots.
“If we’re able to get a high enough level of vaccination, it would reduce the danger of needing to take other health measures to make sure we’re all safe and not overloading our hospitals,” Trudeau said last month.
Almost all Canadians with children under five refrained from injecting their babies. Only 1% of the 0-4 age group have completed their “primary series” of shots. Only 6.5% of toddlers in the 0-4 age group have received one shot or more.
