Moore to update Ontario’s ‘plan to live with and manage COVID-19,’ Ford to speak

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health is expected to expand on the province’s response to COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health described the announcement from Dr. Kieran Moore as an update into “Ontario’s plan to live with and manage COVID-19.”

A government spokesperson says the 11 a.m. announcement will replace Thursday’s regularly scheduled 3 p.m. media briefing.

Moore is slated to speak an hour after Premier Doug Ford, who will hold a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m., in which Health Minister Christine Elliott will join him.

The Toronto Star reports Ford is expected to lift mask mandates on March 21.

All three government officials have recently elaborated on the province potentially lifting mask mandates in various settings. Last week, Moore said he expected that mask orders would be removed by the end of the month, barring any negative public health trends.

“We can anticipate, if the trends continue, removing mandatory masking by the end of March,” Moore said last Thursday, publicly acknowledging that Ontario can “only mandate masking for so long,” with the risk from COVID-19 decreasing.

The top doctor’s comments were made the same day he touched on the recent emergence of BA.2 — a sublineage of the Omicron variant — expected to continue its spread over the next few weeks and become dominant by mid-March.

The BA.2 variant is roughly 30 per cent more contagious than the original Omicron strain, but Moore stresses that it’s not likely to result in a spike in hospitalizations.

Ford has been outspoken recently over his intentions of following Moore’s lead and removing the masking mandate as soon as possible, hinting that it could come as early as March break.

In late February, Moore said high-risk settings — such as public transit, long-term care and hospitals — would maintain masking policies even after they are no longer required in most public spaces. Consultations are underway for schools, he said.

“We will be working with school boards, with parents, with the ministries, and make a decision together, but we do anticipate if we remove it in the public sector, we will do it simultaneously for the schools,” Moore said on February 24.

Education minister Stephen Lecce was asked about masking in schools on Tuesday, saying the government intends to protect students and staff at all costs.

“We are very committed to keeping the school system as safe as possible,” Lecce said. “We are committed to gradually lifting measures with the full support of and following the guidance of the chief medical officer of health.”

The COVID-19 picture in Ontario has improved quite drastically in recent weeks, with hospitalizations down despite a perceived rise in daily infections. Health officials reported 779 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday — a decrease of more than 900 one week ago — as numbers continue a downward trend.

Moore said it’s estimated that COVID-19 cases in Ontario are roughly ten times the confirmed daily number. Health officials caution that day-to-day case counts are underreported following changes to the province’s testing policy.

Ontario ended most of its primary COVID-19 public health measures on March 1.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is no longer required at most Ontario restaurants, gyms and movie theatres, while nightclubs, sporting and concert venues have now eliminated capacity limits, and restrictions have been lifted on social gathering sizes.