Ontario medical officers want to bring back masks

    Canada column for Sunday, May 8/22

    THE CANADIAN REPORT

   By Jim Fox

    There’s a call by medical officers of health to bring back mask-wearing mandates in schools and other indoor public settings.

   Drs. Mustafa Hirji, Shanker Nesathurai and Thomas Piggott, all from Ontario, have made the request in a letter to Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

   They note the decision by the Ontario government to lift the mask mandate in most settings for the province’s 15-million residents was detrimental.

   Public Health Ontario said “this contributed to the province’s sixth wave, which saw about 100,000 to 120,000 daily cases at one point.”

   The medical officials are asking the government to bring back the mask wearing now mandated still in hospitals, long-term care homes, on public transit and in other high-risk settings.

   They want it further widened to include indoor public places, including workplaces, schools, universities, colleges and essential service places such as pharmacies.

   “We had hoped that as masking and other protections ceased to be requirements, that we would be able to get through this wave without much suffering or long-term disruption. Unfortunately, this does not seem to have played out as we had hoped,” the doctors said.

    ---

    Travelers are being confronted by long delays at Canadian airports as resurgence in travel after the pandemic is easing but airlines and airports are having staffing issues.

   Compounding the problems are many travelers have expired passports and documents and are trying to get new ones and security and health checks are taking time.

    The number of Canadian passports issued over the past year has tripled to 363,000, resulting in longer wait times.

   There has been a “huge resurgence of an appetite for travel,” said Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, adding there will be delays for the next few weeks.

   “Now we’re learning once you turn off the economy (and reduce staff), when you turn it back on, it comes with imbalances.”

   The federal government is working to “ensure that we have the adequate resources to respond to this surge of need for traveling,” Alghabra said.

    ---

    News in brief:

   - Ontario residents will be able to show their support or concerns about how the pandemic has been attacked when the provincial government’s Conservative Party seeks re-election on June 2. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s party has a14-point lead in a Leger/Postmedia poll and dropping a little. The Liberals and New Democrats are tied for second and the Green Party trails.

   - Montreal hockey legend Guy Lafleur was remembered as an inspiration for generations of Quebecers at his state funeral. Hundreds of people attended the service, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Lafleur died at age 70 after several years of health issues. A hometown hero, he was the first player in the National Hockey League to score 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons.

    ---

    Facts and figures:

   Canada’s dollar is steady at 78 cents U.S. while the U.S. dollar returns $1.28 in Canadian funds, before exchange fees.

   The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate is unchanged at 1 percent while the prime lending rate at commercial banks is 3.2 percent or more.

   Canadian stock markets are down, with the Toronto index at 20,696 points while the TSX Venture index is at 783 points.

   The average price for gas in Canada is higher at $1.88 a liter or $7.15 for a U.S. gallon in Canadian funds.

   Lotto Max: (May 3) 6, 11, 22,24, 27,29 and 33;bonus 31. (April 29) 8, 9, 19, 32, 37, 46 and 48; bonus 45.

   Lotto 6/49: (May 4) 4, 21, 22, 36, 41 and 43; bonus 31. (April 30) 9, 11,14, 16, 20 and 43; bonus 32.

    ---

    Regional briefs:

   - Flooding has forced hundreds of people from their homes across Manitoba, especially north of Winnipeg on the Peguis First Nation. I ice jams on the Fisher River combined with heavy rains to drive up water levels. Manitoba faces flooding threats every spring but this year, the province has received six times the normal amount of precipitation. The Red River Valley, including Winnipeg, is protected by dikes and diversion channels, expanded after massive floods in 1997.

 -30-

 canadareport.blogspot.com