Online petition calls on province to bring back mask mandates in targeted settings

An online petition is calling on the province to bring back mask mandates.

It was created by a University of Waterloo alumnus, and is seeing growing support.

The petition says masks work best when worn by everybody, but Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency physician in Toronto, and supporter of the petition recognizes there needs to be compromise.

“Right now, if the public will not accept wider mandates, narrowing it to schools, transit, and other essential places is probably a wiser strategy,” he said.

Hospitals in Ontario, including in Waterloo Region, are overwhelmed with pediatric cases and experts have warned of a “triple threat” of COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.

Dr. Pirzada said he is seeing young patients being shuffled around between hospitals everyday.

He wants to see masking mandates in areas where virus transmission is the worse, including in schools, where he called the “epicentre” for many kids who are getting sick.

Dr. Pirzada believes most people recognize the urgency around masking and the need to protect the most vulnerable.

“It's a reasonable compromise for the public, and those that want to put children at risk, that want to put cancer patients at risk, want to put elderly at risk, I don't really have much to say to them to be honest,” he said.

The petition's creator, Bill Comeau sent the following statement to CityNews: 

“The head of Sick Kids says we need to help children by bringing in mask mandates to get through this crisis. As a Waterloo-trained statistician who has reviewed mask and mandate research, I agree with him because paediatric ICU's are in crisis. We have a record surge in children sick from RSV and other viruses, while COVID hospitalizations and deaths are well above last Fall. If we can return to most of us masking in targeted public indoor spaces, including schools, infections will be reduced and the pressure on hospitals will lessen. That's why I started the petition.”

The petition was started a couple weeks ago and is seeing growing support.