Ontario to lift all COVID-19 restrictions by April 27, ending indoor masking after March break

From masking to vaccinations, Ontario is lifting all COVID-19 restrictions by the end of April as part of its latest plan to live with the virus that has claimed more than 12,000 lives across the province in the last two years.

That starts with an end to mandatory masking in schools and most indoor public places March 21, as previously reported by the Star.

But businesses and institutions are welcome to keep masking and mandatory vaccination policies if they choose as COVID-19 infection levels decline but the virus continues to circulate, officials said in outlining the plan Wednesday.

You can't mandate masking forever. It has to be, at some point, an individual choice," chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore told a news conference, noting the number of new COVID-19 cases is expected to increase slightly" with the easing of restrictions.

Moore noted he will continue to wear a mask in crowded shopping malls, for example.

Officials said 10 to 12 per cent of the population eligible for PCR tests, such as health-care workers, are testing positive for COVID-19 - mainly the highly contagious Omicron and the related BA.2 variants - but hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions have been steadily declining.

The next step in the reopening comes Monday, when hospitals and other institutions will no longer be required to have policies on vaccination of staff, although many hospitals have already made COVID-19 shots a condition of employment.

While masking requirements will be lifted in most indoor settings on March 21, the Monday following the March school break, masks will be required until April 27 in high-risk settings such as public transit, nursing and retirement homes, hospitals, shelters, jails and other congregate living settings such as homes for Ontarians with developmental disabilities.

However, once masking is no longer required, Ontarians who are more vulnerable to serious illness or death from COVID-19 because of underlying medical conditions will be encouraged to continue wearing them, Moore said.

Some health experts and opposition parties pushed back at the plan to lift mandatory masking in schools on the day children return from March break.

Since we know that most cases of COVID-19 identified in schools originate outside of school, we would have preferred to see masks kept in place for two weeks after," said a coalition that includes Sick Kids Hospital, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and children's hospitals in London and Hamilton.

Masks remain an important layer of protection as the pandemic continues and may be needed in communities with low vaccination rates and where there is a surge in cases. Masks also protect those most vulnerable, including high-risk, immunocompromised and fragile children."

Liberal House Leader John Fraser agreed, saying that ending the mask requirement in schools on March 21 is a bad decision."

Moore countered that the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 in children is minimal," given vaccination rates of more than 90 per cent for two doses in high school and about 26 per cent in elementary.

I hope parents choose to mask if their children are vulnerable to this virus," he said.

The government will continue to provide schools with masks for staff and students who want to wear them.

In Brantford, Premier Doug Ford maintained the decision on further easing restrictions was left to Moore and that there was no political interference with the June 2 election campaign set to officially begin in the first week of May.

Let me be very clear, there's no pressure on Dr. Moore. I follow the advice and the recommendations of the chief medical officer of Ontario. He consults with the science table. We're going to take his advice," said Ford, adding Moore has done an incredible job," which is why Ontario has fared better than most of North America during the pandemic.

We've been supercautious," the premier said, noting all 50 U.S. states have already lifted their mandatory indoor mask rules.

If you want to keep your mask on, keep it on. If you want to take it off, take it off," he said.

It's going to be up to the people, but we have to move forward from this."

Ford conceded people are exhausted" after two years of the pandemic.

Isolation policies are also changing.

Close contacts of people testing positive for COVID-19 outside their own households will no longer be required to isolate. However, they are being advised to self-monitor for symptoms for 10 days after exposure, wear a mask and avoid activities where they would have to remove their masks, not visit anyone at high risk, such as seniors, and not visit or work in high-risk settings unless they have previously tested positive in the last 90 days.

For close contacts in a household, isolation will continue unless they have tested positive in the last 90 days, are over 18 and have received a booster shot or are under 18 and fully vaccinated.

PCR tests for COVID-19 will be available to home-care and community-care workers, provincial demonstration schools and hospital schools. Officials said the province will not open PCR testing to the general public because of wider availability of rapid tests.

Officials said there will be a final extension" of Ontario's emergency powers to the end of April in case they are needed, noting it is impossible to predict when a dangerous new variant might surface.

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy