Ford says he’ll keep wearing a mask for a ‘few days’ in Ontario legislature after mandate lifts

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will continue wearing a mask for a “few days” in the legislature after the province’s mandate lifts next week for most indoor settings.

The province’s mask mandate is set to lift Monday for many areas, excluding public transit, hospitals, long-term care homes and other high-risk settings.

Ford was asked during a press conference Tuesday if Progressive Conservative MPPs have been told whether or not they should wear masks at the provincial legislature once the mandate lifts.

“No, that’s going to be up to them,” the premier said, noting that any rules regarding masking in the legislature would be up to the speaker.

“Everyone’s going to follow the proper protocols and if you want to keep your mask on, God bless you. You can keep your mask on. And if you don’t, then that’s fine too.”

Ford said he always errs on the side of caution and will keep his mask on “for the first few days.”

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The province also announced last week that by the end of April, all COVID-19 measures and directives in Ontario are expected to be lifted.

Officials asked about BA.2 variant

Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott also commented on the BA.2 variant — a subvariant of the Omicron strain that’s believed to be more contagious — after being asked whether they are concerned that it may cause further challenges in the province.

Ford noted the province currently has very low hospitalizations per capita compared to other jurisdictions.

“We’ve built up our health-care system to be able to handle an increase and we’ve learned a tremendous amount over the last two years,” he added.

Elliott said officials have been following the variant “very closely” and said that the province’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore is studying it.

2:25 Ontario lays out spring pandemic plans, with discontinued masking requirements

She also said the subvariant is expected to make up 50 per cent of COVID-19 cases in Ontario within the “next short period of time.”

“But the evidence suggests that in Ontario at least … it’s not causing more hospitalizations or intensive treatments,” she said.

“But we’re keeping a very close eye on it and are very cognizant of what’s going on in the rest of the world … Dr. Moore feels that we will be able to handle this variant without any further disruption to services in Ontario.”