Several hospitals and health-care centres in southwestern Ontario are relaxing masking requirements for staff, patients, and visitors to their facilities, saying that the change is in compliance with Public Health Ontario’s guidance.
Employees, staff, and volunteers will only be required to wear masks when they are within 2 metres of any patient, unless there is a physical barrier present. Exceptions will apply when patients are under additional precautions or a unit is in an active outbreak.
In addition, visitors, non-symptomatic patients, employees, staff, and volunteers won’t be required to wear a mask in non-clinical areas such as main lobbies, waiting areas, cafeterias, and elevators.
Masks will remain a requirement for visitors and patients in “high-risk areas” like in the oncology, dialysis, and emergency department, the statement says.
A similar announcement was made by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA), which will also relax its masking policy on April 17.
“With virus transmission levels at an all-time low and to better align with community protocols, changes to CKHA’s masking policy will now require staff and physicians to wear masks only when within 2 metres of any patient in a clinical area unless there is a physical barrier present,” it said.
“Following the latest provincial Public Health guidance, our updated masking guidelines will give some relief to our staff, physicians, volunteers, patients and visitors.”
Marshall added that the hospital will turn its focus to mitigating risk for the most vulnerable patients and continue to monitor outbreak frequency, hospitalizations, intensive care admissions, and community transmission of the virus.
Bluewater Health took the lead earlier this month to discontinue social distancing for all persons in hospital and modify mandatory masking that took effect immediately on April 4.
