'It's now a choice,' Simcoe Muskoka residents can ditch the mask March 21

Residents, including students, across Simcoe Muskoka will no longer be required to wear a face mask starting March 21.

On Wednesday, Ontario's chief medical officer of health announced that the province would scrap the mask mandate for indoor settings due to "stable trends."

Masks and face covering are still mandatory for public transit, health care settings, and long-term care facilities until April 27, when the mandates will also end in those settings. On that day, remaining emergency orders and directives will expire.

"It is now a choice, not a mandate," Dr. Kieran Moore said during his last weekly COVID-19 health briefing from Queen's Park.

Dr. Moore noted that the "peak of Omicron is behind us" and said that high vaccination rates and immunity have helped "manage" the virus.

"We are now learning to live with and manage COVID-19," Ontario's top doctor said.

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During a COVID-19 briefing last week, Simcoe Muskoka's medical officer of health said he felt removing mask mandates at this point was simply too soon.

"I don't believe that doing so in the month of March would be the safest thing to do for the public with the amount of transmission we have," Dr. Charles Gardner said.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Dr. Sohail Gandhi, former president of the Ontario Medical Association, said that he was hopeful mask mandates "won't be lifted at once."

Dr. Gandhi said he supports removing the mask mandate "about two weeks after March Break because there are a lot of people who are travelling this year."

"I think two weeks after March break would give enough time to lift the mask mandates for the general population," he added.

• As provinces lift mandates, federal officials say mask-wearing a 'personal choice'

Dr. Gardner said that despite the trends heading in a positive direction, "the pandemic is not over."

"Removing the mask mandate does not mean the risk is gone," Dr. Moore acknowledged, adding that ending remaining public health measures "does not signal that the pandemic is over."

However, Dr. Moore said the "risk is less," and there has been no "sudden rebound" in cases since the province started to gradually reopen.

The move means students and staff will not have to wear masks inside schools following March Break.

Along with removing mask mandates, Dr. Moore said the province was also eliminating the need for cohorting, physical distancing and on-site symptom screening.

"Your collection actions have made a difference," Dr. Moore noted.