TORONTO — Ontario's chief medical officer of health is "strongly recommending" residents mask in all indoor public settings in order to protect children from a "triple threat" of respiratory viruses, while warning that a possible mandate remains on the table
Dr. Kieran Moore made the recommendation Monday as part of an update on the pediatric respiratory virus season, which has seen kids' hospitals overwhelmed in recent weeks by a massive influx of very sick patients.
"We're asking more people to mask up," Moore said at a news conference.
Moore is not mandating masking at this point, though he is "discussing and reviewing" the possibility of requiring masks in schools again.
He said while a broad mask mandate might help reduce illness in the community, the biggest risk to children right now is in social settings, where it is hard to mandate behaviour.
"Yes, masking at a population level will help, but we really have to focus on where we can protect our children," he said. "What might be a cold to you can lead to a severe respiratory infection in a child four and under."
Adults can transmit respiratory viruses to kids, and young children under the age of five are the most susceptible, Moore said. He recommended kids between age two and five wear masks if they're able, and said people should mask around young children in social settings, and parents should mask at home if they have any symptoms.
Moore urged Ontarians to get their flu vaccine, which "appears to be a good match to the dominant circulating strain."
"The time to get your shot is now," Moore said. "Please, please do not delay. It is not too late to get protected."
He also urged everyone to get their COVID-19 booster shots.
COVID-19 is still circulating, but the larger threats to young children at the moment are influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, Moore said.
More than half of the children in the ICU at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children are on a ventilator, CEO Ronald Cohn said over the weekend. None have died.
And half of those children on a ventilator have the flu and the other half have RSV, Moore said.
Moore said the flu test positivity rate is 14.5 per cent, up from 10.3 per cent one week ago.
"Seasonal influenza activity is fully underway," he said, pinning the peak of flu season to early-to-mid-December.
Premier Doug Ford had a message similar to Moore's on Sunday.
"Wear a mask every time possible," Ford said, although he did not answer repeated questions about instituting a mask mandate.
Some major children's hospitals have had to cancel non-urgent surgeries in order to redeploy staff to the emergency department and intensive care units that are operating over capacity.
"We're currently experiencing extraordinary pressure in our pediatric system," said Dr. Chris Simpson, the chief medical director of Ontario Health, the agency that oversees the province's health-care system.
He said all children who go to a hospital will be seen.
In order to manage the crush on the health system, the government says experts have been meeting daily and emergency departments are being instructed to plan for an "extreme surge."
The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario has opened a second pediatric ICU, SickKids hospital is cancelling non-urgent surgeries, and children 14 and older needing critical care are being sent to adult ICUs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2022.
Liam Casey and Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
