As waves of restrictions come and go, it can be confusing to know what you should still be doing to protect yourself from COVID-19.
Under pressure from other jurisdictions that are moving faster, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore, hinted at a press conference Thursday that the timeline for further reopening could be sped up, but that we’ll likely keep our masks on a bit longer.
With high vaccination rates, new treatments for those who get the disease, and Omicron past its peak, officials continue to talk about how to live with the virus, and the burden of decision-making is now shifting to individuals.
And just because a government lifts a regulation, doesn’t mean it’s safe to ditch a mask or wade into a large crowd. The Star talked to experts about what the science says about four different public health measures, regardless of what policies are in place, and what you can and should still be doing.
Masks
Ontario still has a mask mandate in place for all indoor spaces, but several U.S. states are ending their requirements and Saskatchewan will remove mask regulations by the end of February.
Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and University of Ottawa professor, calls masks “the lowest hanging fruit.” A well-fitting mask, particularly an N95 or the equivalent, is “highly effective at curtailing transmission.”
Earlier in the pandemic, N95 masks were in short supply and prioritized for health-care workers, and the science hadn’t yet landed on how important they were for the general population.
But a well-fitting N95 mask or the more accessible KN95 or KN94s, available online and even in some drugstores, offer a lot of protection, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
“If you put it on, you don’t need to worry about the yahoos,” he said.
It’s hard to say how long masks will be necessary, said Deonandan, but it won’t be forever.
Dr. Matthew Oughton, an infectious disease physician and assistant professor in the department of medicine at McGill University in Montreal, said each individual needs to consider their own risk profile and tolerance before abandoning COVID precautions.
“Despite what governments are doing, deciding what you should do as an individual comes down to the risks you face from COVID,” said Oughton. “That’s a complicated equation. And the higher your risk of getting severe disease, the fewer risks you should take that could lead to you being exposed.
Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases expert with the University of Alberta, said wearing a mask is still the prudent thing to do, both to protect yourself and to limit transmission — especially if you are in a large gathering. There is a high likelihood now that someone in any given gathering is contagious, she said.
But Saxinger worries that, as restrictions ease, people may become pressured to go maskless before they’re comfortable.
“I don’t think anyone should ever be shamed for wearing a mask during a pandemic,” she said. “We should be supportive of people wearing masks for as long as they want to, without fear of stigmatization or being hassled for it.”
Vaccine passports
Proof of vaccination is still required in Ontario at indoor venues such as bars, restaurants and gyms, despite the fact Alberta has already scrapped a similar program, with Saskatchewan planning to follow suit on Valentine’s Day.
In Ontario, the vaccine certificates still only require two doses, even though three doses provide much better protection against Omicron infection. Most workplaces are also still following the two-dose definition.
Furness said passports were an effective tool to convince people to get their shots, but the definition of fully vaccinated should now be updated to require three doses.
Deonandan agrees this would help curb transmission. But he believes the two-dose model still has some merit, as it tries to “keep the unvaccinated out of super-spreading environments” since they are the “dry tinder of outbreaks.”
How long will it last? Again, it’s very hard to say or tie it to any indicator such as vaccination rates, “but it won’t be permanent,” he said.
University of Alberta’s Saxinger agreed that a three-dose passport system would make sense.
In absence of the passport system in some provinces, she added that people will need to think more critically about the public places they want to visit. Consider how enclosed the space is, the kind of ventilation, how many people will be present, and the ability to avoid “people singing and yelling in your face.”
Capacity limits
Capacity restrictions on indoor venues such as restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theatres are set to lift on Feb. 21 in Ontario (they’re now at 50 per cent), and all capacity limits on public settings will end on March 14.
Of all of the restrictions to roll back, Deonandan said “capacity limits are a good thing to start with” because their impact is not “as profound” as masks and vaccination.
“That aside, should a person still avoid crowded areas? I would.”
The capacity limits were “already arbitrary,” added Furness. “We’ve got to acknowledge this is airborne, we’ve got to teach, we’ve got to educate, we’ve got to provide N95 masks to people who need them and want them, and we’ve got to mandate indoor air-quality standards.”
The higher your own risk of severe disease, Oughton added, “the lower your risk tolerance should be for large crowds and spending long periods of time indoors — because those are the settings where transmission is more likely to happen.”
Physical distancing
The six-feet rule was one of the early mantras of the pandemic before scientists knew how the virus spread. Many workplaces and businesses are still encouraging employees to adhere to it.
Deonandan said it can be helpful, but given that we now know the virus transmits through the air, distancing yourself from other people in the same room is not a guarantee you’ll be protected.
“Think about cigarette smoke,” he said. “If someone’s smoking right in your face, you’re going to get a dose. If they’re smoking six feet away from you, you’re going to get a lesser dose. What matters is how long you’re there.”
Deonandan stressed that people shouldn’t be overly panicked about venturing out during this transition time.
“We should go forth and be confident in our lives,” he said, adding, “as long as we’re following public health guidance and making wise choices, we shouldn’t be afraid.”
Ben Cohen is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @bcohenn
Ben Cohen is a Toronto-based staff reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @bcohennJOIN THE CONVERSATION
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