During Tuesday’s monthly Board of Health (BOH) meeting, Dr.  Kate Mulligan presented the proposal, which aims to “reduce the spread of respiratory viruses and protect the capacity of pediatric care services”.
A parent of young children, Mulligan told the panel about how she recently had to bring her daughter to the recovery room of her local ER.
“I shudder to think what would have happened if this resource had not been available,” he said.
“It’s been a very scary experience as a parent and I’m just one of thousands of parents who are in this position right now.”
A health equity advocate and professor at the University of Toronto’s Della Lana School of Public Health, Mulligan said there needs to be a “renewed sense of urgency” in how the city approaches the growing number of COVID-19 cases and other respiratory infections, especially in light of the strain hospitals across the province have seen in their emergency departments lately.
Mulligan said at this point, the BOH does not have all the data available to directly ask De Villa to reissue mask orders.  Instead, her move called for the city’s top doctor to scrutinize the numbers and come to the best possible conclusion.
“I would like to ask you to explore all avenues towards this re-release and consider the importance of this new experience for thousands and thousands of parents in Toronto,” Mulligan said during the meeting, which was her last as a member of the board of directors.  .
“It’s something of great concern and could be mitigated through a simple mask mandate.”
Board member Ida Li Preti, a trustee of the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), said she would not support Mulligan’s proposal as parents on her board are strongly against a mask mandate.  Li Preti noted that TCDSB strongly encourages coverage.
De Villa, meanwhile, said at this point the city continues to follow the province’s mask guidelines, but could move in a different direction if needed.
“Right now, we recommend continuing to follow provincial guidance, but as we’ve seen over the last few years this virus has thrown some twists and turns our way and we have to be ready to respond accordingly,” he said.
School mask mandates were lifted in Toronto last March.
At this point, the Ontario Ministry of Health is not committed to reinstating the mask mandates.
“Vaccinations and boosters for COVID-19, as well as the annual flu shot, remain the best tool to keep people healthy and out of hospitals,” spokeswoman Alexandra Adamo wrote in a statement delivered to CTV News Toronto late today afternoon.
“The bivalent vaccine, along with continued access to testing, antivirals and updated public health guidance, gives Ontarians the tools they need to make the best decisions for themselves about how to stay safe and healthy.”
Adamo went on to say that the ministry, along with the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, “continue to work with public health units during the respiratory disease season and monitor the impact on the health system.”
“At the same time, we’re investing in health care staffing and health care capacity building to ensure Ontario patients get the care they need,” he said.
Today, Ontario School Safety (OSS), a group of parents dedicated to ensuring safe, personal education, launched a Go Fund Me campaign to raise the funds necessary for a legal action aimed at securing evidence-based protections against COVID- 19 in Ontario schools.
Among other things, they want a return to the mask and other protections “that served to protect children at other times during the pandemic.”
Pointing to children’s hospitals in Ontario in crisis due to an increase in children with respiratory infections, emergency departments in rural areas closing due to critical staff shortages and a shortage of painkillers for children, the OSS said it “agrees with medical experts that now is the time to return to the same effective protections that will protect our children in the classroom.”
“By minimizing infections in schools, we can reduce disruptions to interpersonal learning and directly address capacity issues in hospitals, including pediatric hospitals,” the team said.
Just last Friday, Dr.  Fahad Razak, the former head of the Ontario Science Board, spoke with CP24 about his reasons for calling for mask mandates to be reinstated.
“Personally, I would say the criteria to require something like a mask mandate is clear here,” said Razak, an internist at St.  Michael’s, pointing to the many ERs across the province reporting high patient volumes and long wait times, especially at children’s hospitals.
“For anyone who says, ‘Let’s not do this,’ I would ask, ‘What’s the alternative at this point?’  How are we going to maintain the system that has so little capacity, how are we going to keep it going in the winter?”
Last month, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr.  Kieran Moore, also warned of more coverage recommendations to the public due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
“We’re going to make more recommendations for mask use to reduce the risk of all these viruses being transmitted through personal contact,” he said.
“(It could) be a pretty complicated and difficult winter.”
At this point, Moore said he recommends that anyone at risk of contracting COVID-19 “continue to cover up as you go indoors to public areas that are at risk.”
“We will be advising the public to cover up as we go forward,” he said on October 13.
While there are a few locations where masks are still mandatory in the province, health officials are advising people to cover up in higher-risk areas such as public transit, especially if they are vulnerable to infection or are immunocompromised.
Today, the University of Waterloo announced that it is reinstating its mandate to cover indoor classrooms.
Both Seneca of Applied Arts and Technology, which has campuses in the GTA and Peterborough, and OCAD University have always maintained their requirements for coverage in classrooms, labs and other spaces where physical distancing is not possible.
With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman, CTV Toronto’s Hannah Alberga and The Canadian Press.