Peterborough Public Health is strongly recommending area residents continue wearing face masks for a few weeks after the Ontario government’s mask requirement ends on Monday (March 21).
In a media release, medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott says the latest local wastewater data indicates a recent increase in transmission in the area. While levels have decreased significantly since the peak of the omicron wave in January, he explains, they are still at a level comparable to peak transmission levels of prior waves.
On Thursday (March 17), the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table reported the wastewater signal for COVID-19 — based on the detection of the virus at 101 wastewater treatment plants, pumping stations, and sewersheds in all 34 public health unit regions — has stopped its previous decline and it now showing a slight increase. The highest increases are in the central east and eastern regions of the province.
“We recommend wearing a mask while indoors and around others for at least a few more weeks until we better understand the context of COVID-19 transmission in our region,” Dr. Piggott says. “There are still thousands of local residents who remain at risk of serious disease if they get infected, and only 55 per cent of eligible area residents are fully vaccinated with all three doses of COVID-19 vaccine.”
Those who are most at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are elderly and immunocompromised people and those with at-risk health conditions including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability of any severity, and sickle cell disease, as well as those receiving active cancer treatment and solid organ or stem cell transplant recipients.
“Wearing a mask shouldn’t be thought of as an all or nothing,” Dr. Piggott says. “It’s really about decreasing risk. I would still rather see someone wear a mask just in their highest-risk interactions — such as around large groups, indoors, or poorly ventilated areas — than not at all.”
For the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, medical officer of health Dr. Natalie Bocking is also recommending residents wear masks in settings at higher risk of virus spread, such as crowded indoor locations.
“We know masks are an effective and easy way to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Dr. Bocking says in a media release. “Even after Ontario lifts its mask mandate, wearing a mask indoors is an important step that people can take to protect both themselves as well as community members vulnerable to severe illness from the virus.”
“If someone decides to continue wearing a mask or a business still chooses to require mask use for customers, it is a decision that should be respected and supported,” she adds.
While the provincial requirement to wear a face mask in most indoor settings ends on March 21, masks will still be required when using public transit and in healthcare settings (including hospitals and COVID-19 vaccination clinics), long-term care homes, and congregate-care settings.
People recovering from COVID-19 infection and those who are close contacts but who are not required to self-isolate must also wear face masks outside the home, including in school and childcare settings (except for those under two years old). Current federal rules also require returning international travellers to wear a mask for 14 days in public settings.
Dr. Piggott also cautions people to keep face masks on hand, in case public health guidance requires them again in the future as the pandemic evolves.
