Windsor-Essex's top doc cautious as province floats possibility of lifting mask mandates
The provincial government has signaled it may drop its mask mandate in the coming weeks, but the acting medical officer of health of the Windsor-Essex health unit said he's cautious over any such move due to the unpredictability of the virus.
The provincial announcement came from Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, on Thursday. Moore said Ontario may drop its mask mandate by the end of March, but no further details were provided.
But Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, acting medical officer of health with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU), said he remains cautious when it comes to COVID-19.
"There have been times we thought we had less activity, and that was followed by times of greater activity," he said. "So that's one thing that I always remain cautious about."
Nesathurai said the WECHU will wait for further guidance from the province when it comes to masking in Windsor-Essex.
"The final determination ... will require the province to make judgments about the burden of disease, and the anticipated level of disease activity, based on province-wide information," he said. "We would defer to the chief medical officer of health to make that final decision and wait for their guidance as it relates to mask mandates."
He did say that there are some areas the WECHU would be more concerned about when it comes to removal of masking requirements, such as hospitals and places where the risk of transmission among vulnerable individuals is higher.
The WECHU also released its weekend COVID-19 numbers on Monday.
There were 207 new high-risk cases of the virus confirmed over the weekend, bringing the total number of confirmed high-risk cases of the virus in Windsor-Essex to 256.
Twenty-nine people are in hospital, and four in the ICU.
One more death was also reported. There have been 581 deaths associated with COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex since the pandemic began.
There are also 17 outbreaks in Windsor-Essex:
Eight in long-term care facilities or retirement homes.
Two in hospital units.
Six community outbreaks.
One workplace outbreak.
