March 2022
Re: “Lifting of mask mandates cynical, unscientific,” (Chris Simon, Barrie Advance 17 March): The majority of provinces, along with every American state and many European countries, have already moved to drop mask mandates. Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, who is not a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, has advised that the time has come to scrap the province’s mask mandate. The data clearly supports his decision.
When Mr. Simon states that “It’s an unscientific, cynical move from a populist government looking for votes in an election year,” just what science is he using to justify his opinion? Is he claiming that Dr. Moore and all the other health advisors who support dropping mask mandates are wrong? For the last two, years we’ve heard over and over again that we must “follow the science.” Well, that doesn’t mean only following the science that you agree with.
I’ve followed the public health guidelines for the past 2 years, including being triple vaccinated, but I’m not going to wear a mask any longer than required by health orders. Mr. Simon and his wife can continue wear their masks for as long as they want. No one is forcing anyone to immediately burn their masks on 1 April. As for the rest of us, we’re going to carry on with life, observing all the usual health protocols that we do every year during the annual cold & flu season.
We simply can’t make the never-ending restrictions, including mandatory mask mandates, our new normal.
Sources: LILLEY: Data backs up removal of mask mandates — just look | Toronto Sun.
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The column from the Barrie Advance:
Ontario’s lifting of mask mandates is a cynical, unscientific move in an election year
Reporter Chris Simon says cases, test positivity still too high
Chris Simon Simcoe.com Thursday, March 17, 2022
I’ll be keeping my own mask mandate in effect, thanks.
Remember when the tag line of the COVID-19 pandemic was, “We’re all in this together?” It seems more like a punchline these days, at least as far as the Ontario government is concerned.
The province last week announced it is lifting most mask mandates later this month. That means places like schools, restaurants and many indoor public settings will no longer require you to wear those coverings that you’ve become so accustomed to for the better part of two years.
It’s an unscientific, cynical move from a populist government looking for votes in an election year.
In Simcoe-Muskoka, there were more than 1,000 documented COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks of February, but community transmission is likely much higher. As of March 10, the test positivity rate was 9.6 per cent. People are still dying and being admitted to hospital almost daily. These are facts that would have caused restrictions to be implemented a year ago, not completely rescinded.
My wife has ovarian cancer and will likely undergo chemotherapy for months; I get a knot in my stomach at the thought of accidentally bringing a virus into our household because I’ve dared to pick up pet food, grab takeout or stop at the store to buy her a chocolate bar. If she is hospitalized, where does her freedom to achieve some level of normalcy go during a difficult and traumatic time?
But we saw this move coming months ago, when the government flip-flopped on school closures and made it more difficult to obtain PCR testing. It could have invested in health units, allowing these agencies to hire more staff and keep better track of viral spread; instead, it changed the rules around outbreak monitoring so that many public gathering sites and schools were no longer being watched for clusters.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the cloth masks most of us use are intended to trap respiratory droplets released when the wearer talks, coughs or sneezes. It also provides the wearer some protection from inhaling droplets released by others.
Being part of a society comes with civic responsibility, including the protection of our most vulnerable. Masks require almost no effort or expense, and wearing one indoors keeps young children, seniors and immunocompromised people from possibly becoming quite sick.
My mask will stay on — for my wife and anyone who can’t speak up. Please consider joining me.
