Canada’s top public health doctor says wearing masks in addition to other precautions could make it easier for hospitals to deal with the rise in respiratory viruses.
Some doctors, scientists and hospital officials in Ontario and Manitoba have called on public health officials to bring back mask mandates as hospitals are overwhelmed by cases of the flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
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Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief of public health, said wearing masks is a layer of protection against the spread of respiratory viruses.
“If it’s added to the other layers of protection, including vaccination, then it could make a difference in terms of cushioning the surge so hospitals can cope a little bit better,” Tam told a news conference on Thursday .
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Dr. Fahad Razak, internist at St. Michael, says the triple threat posed by COVID-19, RSV and flu should be tackled with public health measures such as mask mandates.
RSV, flu above seasonal levels
Both RSV and influenza, or the flu, have increased above seasonal levels, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s latest FluWatch report.
Staff shortages and other factors are also putting pressure on hospitals, doctors say. In particular, some pediatric hospitals are being hit hard as demand outstrips supply of drugs to relieve pain and fever in young children.
It is up to provincial authorities to decide on mask mandates in their own context, Tam said. But she and her counterparts across the country recommend putting on the protection of wearing a mask in crowded places, especially if they’re poorly ventilated.
Other countries have previously encouraged the use of masks by providing them for free, as some communities in Canada have done with rapid COVID-19 test kits.
Asked if Canada would provide free masks, Tam said it’s an important consideration, but it depends on why people won’t wear masks right now.
“Something could be the fatigue factor,” he said. “But there may be different access to the masks and that might be something that could be looked at and see if there would be a difference.”
Tam noted that he has not heard of any supply issues with masks and respirators in Canada.
Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her government would seek to ban COVID-19 mask mandates in schools.
Make masks available
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician at Toronto General Hospital, said the masks are a useful tool and called on public health to do some “heavy lifting” to make them easier to use.
“Strong and meaningful communication,” Bogoch said. “Not just a press conference.”
If masks were put in places like schools, cars, houses of worship and community centers, as well as at hospital entrances, people could make “smart decisions” when entering indoor places, he said.
“I think we can get a lot of people to mask in the absence of mandates.”
A produce stand filled with free N95 respirators, provided by the US Department of Health and Human Services, stands outside a pharmacy in Jackson, Miss., in February. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)
Dr. Lindy Samson, chief of staff and medical director of CHEO in Ottawa, also urged people to stay indoors, noting that children across the country are waiting 15 to 20 hours to be seen in an emergency department.
“We’ve gotten through the first two and a half years by doing what needs to happen,” Samson said. “As hard as it is and as tired as we are, we all have to do it now so our children can get the care they need when they need it.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the head of the World Health Organization said deaths from COVID-19 have dropped by nearly 90 percent since February.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said just over 9,400 coronavirus-related deaths were reported to the WHO last week compared with 75,000 worldwide nine months ago.
“We have come a long way, and that is certainly reason for optimism. But we continue to call on all governments, communities and individuals to remain vigilant,” he said in a virtual press conference from the headquarters of WHO in Geneva.
“Almost 10,000 deaths a week is 10,000 too many for a preventable and treatable disease.”
Because surveillance and testing have declined worldwide, the circulation of the virus is harder to estimate, the WHO official says. New variants also continue to circulate.