Ontario’s top doctor is set to provide an update on the province’s COVID-19 response Wednesday amid speculation that the government could move to ease or altogether lift masking requirements in the coming weeks.
Dr. Kieran Moore had been scheduled to give an update on Thursday afternoon, but in a news release sent out Tuesday evening, the province said that he will instead speak Wednesday morning to "provide an update on Ontario’s plan to live with and manage COVID-19.”
Moore’s update is scheduled to take place an hour after Ontario Premier Doug Ford is set to make a local announcement alongside Health Minister Christine Elliott in Brantford. However the premier’s office clarified in an email Tuesday night said the two announcements are not connected.
Ford said last week that he was expecting updated guidance around masking from Moore soon.
Moore said last week that he is confident Ontario will be able to lift its masking mandate for most indoor settings by the end of March.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily declining in Ontario over the past few weeks, though health officials have said that there still remains a fair bit of transmission in the community.
Because of changes to testing requirements, it is difficult to get a clear indication of the number of cases across the province.
Municipalities have been monitoring virus levels in wastewater and Moore said last week that most sampling sites in the province are still showing a downward or stable trend in COVID levels. While some regions have seen early indicators of increasing trends, he said the province is “closely monitoring” those areas.
On March 1, Ontario dropped its proof of vaccination system, along with capacity limits in most settings.
Ontario health officials have said that it made little sense to continue enforcing the vaccine passport system as it was construed since the omicron variant does a good job of getting around two doses.
However the scientific director of Ontario's COVID-19 science table, Dr. Peter Juni, has cautioned that a three-dose vaccine passport system could be needed at some point in the future in order to combat a subsequent wave of infection.
