Mask requirement returning to B.C. health-care facilities

In an effort to curb respiratory illnesses, medical masks will once again be required in B.C. health-care settings for staff and patients in most circumstances, effective immediately, CTV News has learned.

CTV News has obtained a Ministry of Health memo quietly sent to health authorities Tuesday outlining the new policy. A ministry spokesperson confirmed the directive Wednesday morning.

It says patients and anyone accompanying them must wear a mask in emergency departments and waiting rooms. While being treated, patients are required to wear one if directed to by a health-care worker.

Staff are required to wear a mask in all settings where patients are being cared for and must use stronger personal protective equipment, such as a respirator, in high-risk scenarios.

All long-term care workers must also mask in patient care areas unless eating or drinking. However, those visiting places like assisted seniors’ living or mental health facilities do not need to wear a mask if they’re seeing an individual resident.

Children under the age of five, those unable to wear a mask due to a health condition, people unable to put on or remove a mask without help, and anyone communicating with a hearing-impaired individual are exempt from the requirement.

“People who are required to wear a mask and are able to wear a mask, but who choose not to as a matter of preference, are not exempt,” the memo reads.

The Health Ministry still recommends wearing a mask in any health-care scenario where they are not mandated.

Cases of influenza and RSV are currently on the rise, and COVID-19 is “stable but shows early signs of an increase,” according to the latest respiratory virus update from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, for the week of Dec. 22-28.

The universal mask mandate for health-care facilities brought in during the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted in the spring of 2023. A requirement was reinstated in October of that year for the duration of the respiratory illness season and was lifted in April 2024.

The ministry hasn't published a formal announcement about the policy, but it provided a statement to CTV News with more information Wednesday afternoon.

"To keep people safe, the province is strengthening infection control measures in health-authority-operated facilities and contracted sites to protect people during the respiratory illness season," the ministry's statement begins, before clarifying that "any person (who) comes to a health-care facility for medical care will receive it."

"Temporary measures like these have been regularly used in health-care settings both pre- and post-pandemic, including last year. In conjunction with existing infection control practices, they will help curb the spread of respiratory illness this season and keep patients, residents and health-care workers safe."

The mask requirement will remain in place until risk decreases, according to the ministry, which said it will "continue to monitor risk levels" and expects to lift the mandate sometime this spring.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Penny Daflos