Mask mandate returns to B.C. health-care settings Oct. 3

As the fall COVID-19 and respiratory illness season approaches, the B.C. government is reintroducing a series of measures in health-care settings.

Starting Oct. 3, B.C. will require all health-care workers, visitors, contractors, and volunteers in all patient, client, and resident care areas to wear masks.

LEARN MORE
• Current mask mandates in British Columbia
• B.C. and COVID-19 Workplace Vaccination Mandates
• COVID-19 and employment rights

Multiple media outlets in B.C. obtained a memo from Brian Sagar, executive director of communicable disease prevention and control for B.C., that outlined the changes.

While these measures are aimed at enhancing infection prevention and control, there’s ambiguity regarding their mandate, potentially leaving room for interpretation. Additionally, concerns about the safety of health-care workers and the readiness of protection officers to handle potential escalations have been raised. This move comes amid higher sick call rates among health-care workers compared to pre-pandemic times.

Here are the key points to know about these upcoming changes.

Mask Requirements

• Masks will be required in all health-care settings.
• Enhanced infection prevention and control measures will be reinstated from October 3 in hospitals, family doctors’ offices, and clinics.
• Health-care workers, visitors, contractors, and volunteers in all patient, client, and resident care areas must continuously wear masks.
• Patients, clients, and residents should wear masks as directed by health care workers or by personal choice.
• The memo does not explicitly state “mandate” or “mandatory,” leaving room for interpretation regarding mask requirements.

Safety Concerns

• There are concerns about the safety of health-care workers due to potential escalations in verbal and physical assaults, even with enhanced masking, although it’s not a legal order.
• Plans to hire protection officers to handle aggression or assaults in hospitals, with only a small number currently on the job and more awaiting training.
• Higher rates of sick calls among health-care workers, with 15,000 calling in sick on average each week compared to pre-pandemic times.

Additional Measures

• Visitors to B.C. care homes or assisted living residents will not need to mask in their rooms.
• Facility entrances will have screeners monitoring for symptoms of respiratory illness.
• Rigorous hand washing will be encouraged, and enhanced cleaning protocols will continue.
• COVID-19 vaccination requirements will remain in place for health-care workers.
  Health-care workers are expected to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of illness before work and stay home when actively sick.
• Patients and visitors are not required to be vaccinated.
• There will be no occupancy limits, physical distancing requirements, or rapid testing as per the memo.
• The province previously faced criticism, including from B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner, when it ended the mask mandate in April, citing declining COVID-19 infection rates as the reason.