Londoners may find themselves once again required to wear face coverings inside public places in the city, if three local politicians have their way.
Councillors Jesse Helmer, Stephen Turner, and Maureen Cassidy have sent a letter to council asking that a special meeting be held on Tuesday to discuss temporarily reintroducing the municipal mask bylaw in London.
“We believe it is prudent and necessary to reintroduce, on a temporary basis, the mask bylaw passed by Municipal Council in 2020, revised to include children over the age of two. We are not out of the woods yet,” the three state in their letter. “We have consulted with the Medical Officer of Health for Middlesex-London, Dr. Alex Summers, and he is supportive of organizations considering the tools available to them to increase the wearing of masks, given the current incidence of COVID-19 in our community.”
Helmer, Turner, and Cassidy go on to state that any such bylaw should remain in effect until midnight on May 9, with the possibility of extending it as needed.
“Generally, we believe rules requiring masks to be worn indoors should only be lifted once the incidence of COVID-19 in our community, as measured by cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, is at a much lower level. If the incidence of COVID-19 is the same or higher than it is now, we could consider extending the mask bylaw at the 3 May Council meeting,” the trio write.
The Ontario government lifted the mask mandate on Monday for the majority of indoor public spaces including schools, restaurants and bars, grocery stores, gyms, and movie theatres. Face coverings are still required at hospitals, long-term care homes, and on public transit.
However, many public health officials, including Summers, have strongly encouraged the continued use of masks. A coalition of children’s hospitals, including Children’s Hospital in London, also called on the province to keep the masks mandatory in schools for the time being.
In defense of their calls to reinstate the bylaw, Helmer, Turner, and Cassidy point to data released by the Ontario Science Advisory Table last week. The latest projections indicated admissions to intensive care units could rise to 300 by May due to the lifting of restrictions that will increase close contacts, many maskless. Under a scenario by the advisory table where masking rules are maintained, ICU admissions fall to less than half of that of the moderate one. The councillors also expressed concern over data from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, countries with high vaccination rates, that have recorded COVID-19 death increases since dropping most public health measures early in February.
While provincial limitations placed on eligibility for PCR testing have made it impossible to gauge the true level of community spread of the virus, Summers has previously noted it remains higher than at any other time prior to the Omicron fueled fifth wave. Since the start of the year, 95 people in London and Middlesex County have died from the virus, including 49 in February, the region’s second deadliest month of the pandemic.
If the special meeting is granted, the strategic priorities and policy committee would weigh the pros and cons of making masks mandatory in the city again. The councillors behind the meeting are hopeful Summers will be able to attend in order to answer any questions surrounding the effectiveness of face coverings.
Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com