Ontario’s top doctor urges mask wearing, warns mandate could return

Ontario’s top doctor fears rising COVID-19 cases and the approach of winter could further jeopardize the province’s struggling health-care system, forcing the Ford government to potentially re-implement a mandatory masking policy if the situation worsens.

In an interview with Global News, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s medical officer of health, urged people to get vaccines, boosters and wear a mask to avoid an unmanageable surge in hospital admissions.

He said the rate of uptake for fourth doses by Ontarians aged 70 and older — around 16 per cent — was “not acceptable” and said public health measures like mandatory masking could return “if necessary.”

“Sixteen per cent is absolutely not acceptable to me,” he said, urging people to book an appointment.