Adopt all 'layers of protection' to help most vulnerable, doctors say as respiratory viruses spread

Parent reacts to Moore's mask recommendation Miriam Guttierez shares her opinion on the new guidance from Ontario's top doctor which strongly recommends mask wearing indoors.

Doctors are stressing the importance of masking and other ways to help protect yourself and others amid a growing number of respiratory illnesses in recent weeks.

On Monday, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore "strongly" recommended people wear a mask in public, social settings and at home in order to protect those most vulnerable to illness, namely children aged four and younger, as well as the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.

Moore's advice comes as the province faces what he described as a "triple threat" of COVID-19, influenza and the common childhood virus known as RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, of which the latter two are driving hospital admissions among children.

"This is different than COVID," Moore told reporters. "This is protecting our children and those that are the youngest among us. Please parents, grandparents, siblings: If you have any respiratory symptoms, you must mask around those that are vulnerable."

Along with masking, Moore also urged Ontarians to follow all "layers of protection," including daily self-screening for signs of illness, staying home when sick, practising good hand hygiene, and staying up to date with COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. There is currently no vaccine for RSV.

Last week, federal health officials also advised Canadians to wear a mask indoors and adopt other protective measures.

Provincial governments across the country began dropping their mask mandates earlier this year, with some still in place such as in long-term care homes.

Since the latest rise in childhood hospital admissions, Quebec's College of Physicians has recommended wearing masks in public.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said last week that the province has no plans to reintroduce a mask mandate and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said last month she would "not permit any further masking mandates of children" in schools. This came after a court ruled the province's decision to block school boards from imposing their own mask mandates "was made for improper purposes."

Although the announcement Monday fell short of a mandate, Moore and other physicians say masking would help reduce the risk of spread.

"You don't need a randomized controlled trial to understand that it's a very useful and fairly simple way to prevent the spread of respiratory disease," Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious disease specialist with Toronto's University Health Network, told CTV's Your Morning on Monday.

He said masking everywhere where people are gathering would be ideal – and while masking alone will not "solve the crisis," Sharkawy said it would help.

"I think we can't be too overly simplistic about this," he said. "Every little bit helps, every degree of awareness helps."

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto, told CTV News Channel on Monday that masking is not a perfect way to stop a wave, it could "take the edge off" the health-care system.

Speaking to CTV News Channel on Sunday, chief of family medicine at Markham Stouffville Hospital Dr. Allan Grill said, "I think as a health-care provider, I strongly support masking especially indoors, crowded places, where it's not well ventilated."

"And I think right now is the time where I think everybody needs to pitch in and strongly consider masking indoors considering what's going on with our health-care system," he added.

The strain appears to be more acute in paediatric hospitals, with many reporting that they are operating above occupancy.

The situation also has once again highlighted the capacity issues in Canada's health-care system, often referred to as being in crisis, which received added attention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The fact that we have this pandemic and now we have these new emerging sites of respiratory viral transmission, I think, just pushes things to an extreme," Sharkawy said.

"And so we've got to be cognizant of what we can do now in the short term to get things under control when we're in a crisis situation. And then we have other steps that we need to take from a long-term strategy point of view to fix a system and invest in what's needed to help make it more manageable for the future, but they're not mutually exclusive."

With files from CTV News