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Ontario will heed advice of top doctors on masks: health minister

Click to play video: 'COVID-19: Ontario data shows decline in booster vaccination'
COVID-19: Ontario data shows decline in booster vaccination
COVID-19: Ontario data shows decline in booster vaccination – Apr 9, 2022

TORONTO — Health Minister Christine Elliott says that Ontario will reintroduce mask mandates if the province’s top doctors recommend it.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore is set to give a public briefing today for the first time since early March, amid rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

In the legislature today, Elliott said that Moore confers with local medical officers of health on a regular basis and if they recommend a return to mask wearing, the province will heed their advice.

Moore’s update today comes on the heels of a report by Public Health Ontario that shows COVID-19 cases, test positivity rates and hospitalizations have gone up since March 21, when the province ended mandatory masking in most indoor spaces.

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It proposes bringing back indoor masking and extending masking mandates in high-risk settings as possible elements of a “layered” strategy to mitigate a surge in cases.

Moore is also expected to discuss access to antiviral treatment in a briefing scheduled for 1 p.m.

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