Statement from Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health

Statement from Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health

The majority of public health and workplace safety measures have now been lifted, and key public health indicators continue to improve or remain stable. With continued improvement in trends, Ontario will remove the mandatory masking requirement for most settings on March 21, with the exception of select settings such as public transit, health care settings, long-term care homes and congregate care settings.

Effective March 14:

Mandatory vaccination policy for employees in long-term care homes is lifted.

Unvaccinated workers in hospitals and other high-risk healthcare settings will no longer have to partake in regular rapid testing .

Effective March 21:

Masking requirements will be removed in most settings including: schools, restaurants and bars, gyms, movie theatres, shopping centres, etc.

Remaining measures in schools including cohorts and on-site symptom screening are removed.

Remaining regulatory requirements for businesses are removed, including passive screening and having a COVID-19 safety plan.

Effective April 27:

Mask requirements are removed in all remaining settings.

All remaining orders under the Reopening Ontario Act expire.

Remaining health-care directives are lifted, however, the government will still direct health-care workers to wear personal protective equipment.

After this date, masks will not be mandatory but will be encouraged and highly recommended for those who are immunocompromised, at high risk, or who choose to still use them.

STATEMENT

Statement from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health

March 09, 2022
Ministry of Health
TORONTO — Today, Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health issued the following statement: “With the peak of Omicron behind us, Ontario has been able to cautiously and gradually move through its reopening milestones. The majority of public health and workplace safety measures have now been lifted, and key public health indicators continue to improve or remain stable.

As we continue on this path, we are able to take a more balanced and long-term approach to Ontario’s pandemic response.

With continued improvement in trends, Ontario will remove the mandatory masking requirement for most settings on March 21, with the exception of select settings such as public transit, health care settings, long-term care homes and congregate care settings.

As a society, we must remain kind, considerate and respectful toward those who continue wearing a mask. We must also expect indicators, such as cases and hospitalizations, to increase slightly as Ontarians increasingly interact with one another. However, thanks to our high vaccination rates and natural immunity, as well as the arrival of antivirals, Ontario has the tools necessary to manage the impact of the virus.

I want to thank Ontarians for their ongoing resilience and commitment to community as we navigated this global pandemic together. Your sacrifices and collective actions have made a difference.

While this does not signal that COVID-19 has disappeared or that the pandemic is over, it does mean that we have come to a place where we know what we need to do to manage this virus and to keep each other safe.

We need to remain vigilant. We need to stay home when sick. And, most importantly, we need to get vaccinated and boosted.

Vaccination is the best protection against COVID-19 and the best protection for the progress we have made.”

Learn how Ontario intends to lift the remaining public health and workplace safety measures and learn to manage COVID-19 for the long-term.

Background: Ontario Moving to Next Phase of Reopening, Feb 17, 2022

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