Get back to the basics to protect the children. That’s the message the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has for Ontarians.
Dr. Kieran Moore is “strongly recommending” that Ontarians put on a mask in public spaces and get back to the basics of staying home while sick, practicing good hand hygiene and disinfecting high touch surfaces, as well as getting COVID-19 booster shots and flu shots.
Moore says children under four are filling hospital beds and ICU units across Ontario with over half of pediatric patients testing positive for influenza and 20 per cent testing positive for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), another respiratory virus.
Moore calls it a triple threat with the flu, RSV, and COVID-19 circulating in every community.
Moore says what can be a common cold for an adult can have severe outcomes for children under four.
The doctor says if you are a parent or guardian of a child under four you should be wearing a mask if you have symptoms of a cold. Also, children between the ages of two and five should also be wearing masks in public if they can tolerate it and can use it safely.
While it is not a mask mandate Moore says everyone should heed the strong recommendation of wearing a mask.
***With files from Wendy Gray
