Alberta's masking directive for hospitals takes regional approach

Some doctors say Alberta's new directive on masking in hospitals doesn't go far enough and is confusing.

Alberta Health Services issued the directive yesterday for stricter masking rules in acute care facilities, but it will be up to zone and site leaders whether to implement the mandate. The directive was issued to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, AHS says.

As of Thursday evening, no acute care facilities in the province have implemented the directive.

"If we want to be really serious about it, then we should implement a universal masking policy -- and not only in healthcare, but also in schools, on public transit, in public places," said Dr. Gosia Gasperowicz, a developmental biologist.

"We have COVID circulating, we have influenza circulating," she said.

In its updated respiratory virus dashboard, released Thursday, Alberta Health shows there were 857 cases of COVID-19 and 37 cases of influenza confirmed between Oct. 1 - Oct. 7.

Over the same time frame, there were 145 hospital admissions due to COVID-19, seven of which are in the ICU.

"From the front lines and hearing from my colleagues we're definitely seeing a lot more respiratory illness, a lot more COVID," said Dr. Paul Parks, an emergency physician and the president of the Alberta Medical Association.

"We're seeing a lot more admissions into our hospitals because of it," he added.

Dr. Parks said the regional approach to determining where mask mandates are implemented is appropriate, because different areas in the province are dealing with different issues. However, it's also not a clear way to issue the directive, he said.

"The way this is being done adds a little bit of confusion, because as an active emergency physician in my hospital right now, I'm not completely certain what the exact policy is," Dr. Parks said.

If any mandate is implemented, as decided by the regional leaders, signs will be posted at the entrances to hospitals.