Masks will become 'a personal choice', Quebec public health director says
'If I feel like I will be more protected with it, I will continue to wear it,' Quebec's interim public health director, Dr. Luc Boileau, said Thursday.
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It will be up to individuals to decide whether or not they should continue to wear masks once the mandate is lifted, interim public health director Dr. Luc Boileau said Thursday.
Public health plans to suggest for the government to remove the rule, but it won’t recommended for people to stop wearing masks as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted across the province.
“It’s going to become a personal choice in the context of the return to normal life, so some people might be more comfortable wearing it and obviously they can,” Boileau said. “It will remain a good practice to observe to prevent contamination.”
Boileau elaborated on the plan to lift the mandate at a news conference on Thursday, a day after Quebec announced masks will no longer be required in most public, indoor places by mid-April (a month later for public transit). The province also announced Wednesday it is moving up the date for the removal of the vaccine passport by two days, to March 12.
The exact dates for the removal of mask rules will depend on the epidemiological situation over the next few weeks, Boileau said. So far, all indicators suggest the province is headed in the right direction, as do public health models that factor in the easing of restrictions — but Boileau admitted spring break poses a risk he would like to monitor before setting a date.
“We’re expecting for the portrait to evolve quite well, but we will be very vigilant for that,” he said. “Despite the risks … we’re confident that we’re on the right route to exit this wave of the pandemic and that the worst of the wave is behind us. If it does increase, it won’t increase to the peak we had in January which was a very, very high peak.”
The lifting of the mandate will come with specific recommendations for people who are at risk. While Boileau admitted masks don’t benefit the wearer as much as those around them, he said “it’s very difficult to continue to argue for everyone to wear it because some might be at risk.”
His response was similar when asked how many COVID-19 deaths the province is willing to tolerate as it lifts restrictions, which officials have said will need to be done to return to normal life. Boileau said that while the only acceptable number of deaths in theory is zero, that would be impossible for COVID-19 in the same way as it’s impossible for the flu.
“There are too many constraints to be put in a society to get there,” he said. “And it’s a situation that is not necessarily acceptable, but that is a normal situation. The most we can do is obviously to lower the risk of the persons who are at risk.”
As for what he plans to do and what advice he will have for loved ones when the mask mandate is lifted, Boileau said it will depend on the context.
“If I feel like I will be more protected with it, I will continue to wear it,” he said. “It will vary from one person to another, but I think people will be able to make those choices.”
As Quebec enters an era of personal risk assessment, Boileau said public health will be monitoring the progression of the virus closely so it’s not blindsided by a sixth wave of COVID-19.
“We will be solidly ready to follow it, to see it arrive and to make the right moves when it will be required,” he said, adding that a potential reimplementation of public health restrictions would depend on how the pandemic unfolds.
Boileau hopes the province’s recent decision to restart tracking COVID-19 through wastewater (following a pilot project and a recommendation from public health) will help Quebec monitor how the virus is progressing “in advance of the other markers or indicators that we have.”
“If we could be in advance of a week or two, this would be great,” he said. “We could try to manage our society to be prepared, but also to be able to look ahead and be informed rapidly of something that might go on in the community with a new virus or this one.”
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