P.E.I. hospitals bring back mask mandates as experts warn of viral surge across Canada

A health-care worker wearing hospital scrubs and a surgical mask looks through a window. (Shutterstock)

Mandatory masking is back at health facilities across Prince Edward Island as public health officials work to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses.

The newest numbers from Canada’s respiratory virus surveillance report show that during the week ending Oct. 4, COVID-19 activity was increasing on the Island, with about 20 per cent of tests coming back positive. Nationally, the average was under 10 per cent.

“I always wear the mask, maybe that’s why I don’t have a cold,” said Hilary Prince, outside Charlottetown’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital as she pulled one out of her purse.

Inside, visitors are required to wear masks when within two metres of any patient, resident or client. Maureen Arsenault said she supports the measure.

“It’s important to keep people safe, so I think it’s a good idea,” she said.

Scott Weeks said his wife is a patient at the hospital and there was a COVID-19 outbreak in her department last week.

“She got along fine, and I think the other patients got along fine. But this time of year, it’s good to wear a mask so that reduces the spread of any type of respiratory infection.”

RSV and influenza remain low, with under one per cent of tests positive, but that’s likely to change, says infectious disease specialist Isaac Bogoch. He expects rates to rise through the winter and peak in January.

“We’ll sadly see some stretches to our health-care capacity, in terms of hospitalizations, because of these viruses … many people will succumb to these viruses, especially the most vulnerable,” he said. “So, like every year, it’s important to take steps to reduce the risk of transmission in the community and also ensure that individuals who are at greatest risk have some protection as well.”

This is a strong year to get a flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccine, says Dawn Bowdish, an immunologist and professor of medicine at McMaster University.

Bowdish says the vaccines offered should be a good match for the strains and variants likely to circulate in communities across the country. She points to predictions from the southern hemisphere — specifically research from Australia — which wraps its cold and flu season as Canada’s begins to build.

“There may be mutations, or the virus might change before it gets to Canada. But our best predictions are that the flu shot will be an excellent match,” she said. “Getting vaccinated now is a really good investment in a Christmas holiday that will be, hopefully, lower in infection.”

Most provinces and territories provide COVID-19 vaccines at no cost for anyone six months and older. The two outliers are Quebec and Alberta, which now charge people who do not fall into high-risk groups. Health-care workers, people 65 and older and residents of long-term care facilities in those provinces continue to receive coverage for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Back on P.E.I., public health officials hope universal vaccine access and masks in health facilities will blunt the surge and ease pressure on Island hospitals.