Continuous mask mandate to be lifted in Alberta hospitals

Continuous masking will no longer be required in Alberta hospitals, treatment centres and long-term care facilities starting next week. 

Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced Thursday it will drop the masking requirement for staff, patients and visitors in all its hospitals and contracted sites. The change is set to go into effect Monday. 

The dropping of one of the last remaining COVID-19 restrictions in the province comes weeks after AHS made mask wearing optional for health care workers when in areas not accessible to patients. 

Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, said nurses in the union expected the continuous masking restrictions to be lifted, anticipating it would likely happen sometime after the provincial election. 

Declining COVID hospitalizations in the province were part of the reason the requirements were lifted, AHS said in a statement. Other factors included declining hospital admission rates for respiratory illness, wastewater data and testing positivity rate. 

Health-care workers, patients and visitors will be allowed to wear masks in hospitals and long-term care facilities should they choose, the agency said. Still, health-care workers will still be expected to wear a mask if a patient requests it, as outlined in AHS guidelines. 

According to Smith, some health-care workers have begun to experience "mask fatigue" after three years of pandemic restrictions. 

"For some, I think that there is a level of fatigue and they welcome [the change], particularly if their point of care assessment would say they are not at risk and their patients are not at risk," she said. 

Other provinces, such as British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, have also lifted certain masking requirements in health-care facilities in recent months. Meanwhile, in Quebec and Ontario, masking rules have been left to individual hospitals.

While masking directives have been lifted across Canada, COVID-19 is still spreading. Some health-care officials have said that should the situation worsen significantly come fall or winter, it could be reasonable to bring back masking mandates.

'What do I do?'

Natalie Kwadrans, who is battling terminal breast cancer, has a treatment appointment scheduled for Monday at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary. 

"I'm feeling a little nervous," she said. "I believe that is Day 1 of unmasked cancer centres and unmaksed hospital settings. So, I'm a little nervous."

Kwadrans said she doesn't think the masking requirements should be lifted in a medical setting, as it could put immunocompromised people, such as herself, at risk. 

While she said she won't skip her appointment Monday, she's approaching it with trepidation. 

"The flip side is I stay home and do nothing and let my cancer kill me," Kwadrans said. "So … you know, what do I do?" 

Moving forward

 Adriana LaGrange, the newly appointed health minister, said the provincial government stands behind the health agency's decision. 

"Albertans are ready to move forward and Alberta's government supports AHS's decision to return to pre-pandemic policies when it comes to masking," she said in a statement. 

LaGrange noted the agency's move was based not only on data regarding the COVID situation in Alberta but also in consultation with doctors, front-line managers, patients and advisory councils. 

Finding Balance

Dr. Stephanie Smith, an infectious disease physician at the University of Alberta Hospital, said more tools are available now to treat and protect against COVID, such as vaccines and various medications. 

Transmission is also low, she noted, and many people are simply tired of masking. 

"From that perspective, I think if we're going to lift mask mandates, now is the time to do so," she said. "Certainly, in most areas of the hospital, I think it makes sense. I don't think there is a high risk of transmission in the hallways and common areas."

But Smith is worried about vulnerable patients like Kwadrans.

"That's what we're really grappling with in the hospital setting right now," she said.

"How can we develop policies where we know which patients we should be continuing to mask with. How do we identify those patients. How do we make sure that we protect those patients?"

She said health-care workers can transmit viruses even if they're not symptomatic. And she'd like to see a formal plan developed, soon, to protect those who are at high-risk.

"Somehow we have to find a balance where we can still provide the best protection we know how to that population," she said.