Mask Mandates Back in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes

A woman wears a face mask as she walks by a sign advising of the mandatory wearing of masks and face coverings in Montreal on Sept. 21, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

Ontario long-term care homes will now require masking after an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to government numbers.

The masking directive is in a Nov. 2 memo from the Ministry of Long-Term Care to LTC licensees, the CBC reports. It says the advice is from the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore.

Masking was expected to be implemented by Nov. 7 in long-term care homes across the province. It will apply to employees, volunteers, students, and support workers.

The move follows a report from the Ministry of Public Health that notes there were 7,157 outbreaks of COVID-19 in care homes so far in 2023.

Of those infected, 181 were hospitalized and there were 106 deaths among residents, the report says.

Residents and staff at retirement homes in the province saw 3,884 cases of COVID-19, resulting in 172 hospitalizations and 21 deaths among residents, according to the report.

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The median length of a COVID-19 outbreak in long-term care facilities was nine days, compared with seven in retirement homes.

Hospitals have seen an increase in patients with COVID-19 from long-term care homes at 6.5 percent, compared to 4.5 percent last year. The number of patients from retirement homes that have been hospitalized this year has also increased from 8.3 percent to 9.1 percent, the report said.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 among long-term care residents has dropped from 4.4 percent to 3.6 percent. For those in retirement homes, the rate has fallen from 1.6 percent to zero, public health statistics show.

The COVID-19 infection rate remains high in Ontario at 17 percent, according to government data.

Wastewater data shows that the virus started to climb in September, dropped a little in October, and is increasing again into November.

Hospital Mask Mandates

Ontario hospitals started implementing mask mandates in September.

After dropping mask requirements for public spaces in the summer, Ottawa Hospital put them back into effect for public places on Sept. 11. Masks have remained mandatory in patient rooms and units, including the emergency department.

Several other hospitals in the province also reintroduced mask requirements, including Kingston Health Sciences Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, and Toronto’s Mt. Sinai Hospital and North York General.