Dr. Keiran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health made it official Wednesday when he announced that the masking mandate will end on Saturday.
There was some speculation among some Toronto-based media outlets that Moore might extend the mandate, but that did not happen as the Ministry of Health issued a news release Wednesday afternoon.
“With high vaccination rates and Ontario’s COVID-19 situation continuing to improve, most of the province’s remaining provincial masking requirements, including on public transit, will expire as of 12:00 a.m. on June 11, 2022," said the release.
"To continue providing an additional layer of protection for the most vulnerable, masks will still be required in long-term care and retirement homes. Masking is recommended in higher-risk congregate living settings, such as shelters and group homes," the release continued.
"On June 11, 2022, remaining Directives will also be revoked and replaced with Ministry of Health guidance for health care workers and organizations. This includes guidance on when masks should be worn in hospitals and other health care settings."
Although different rules for masking have been in place for most of the pandemic since March of 2020, the provincial rules were relaxed on March 21, 2022 except for high-risk settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes and public transit. Those exceptions were supposed to expire on April 27, but the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Keiran Moore, pushed the date back to June 11.
Up until now, places where masking was required included public transit services in terms of indoor premises and aboard transit vehicles. This also applied to highway coach services, where buses and transit vehicles were used to transport people from city to city.
This did not apply to businesses that had bus passengers on sightseeing or tourist services.
Masking also applied to all public and private hospitals, psychiatric facilities and independent health clinics.
The masking rules also apply to long-term care homes and retirement homes.
While the official mandate has ended, masking may continue for private businesses, such as stores, restaurants and pubs that decide they want to keep the masking rules in place. The province said any private business is free to set their own policy.
"While masking requirements are expiring, organizations may implement their own policies. Ontarians should continue to wear a mask if they feel it is right for them, are at high risk for severe illness, recovering from COVID-19, have symptoms of the virus or are a close contact of someone with COVID-19," the ministry of health said Wednesday.
Len Gillis covers health care and mining for Sudbury.com.
