After pushing back the lifting of the mandate multiple times, the province announced Wednesday masks will no longer be required in most public places as of May 14. Once the mandate is lifted, for the first time since July 2020, mask-wearing will become what interim public health director Dr. Luc Boileau calls a personal choice for Quebecers.
The advice from health experts? To keep wearing them.
“I think people should continue to wear masks, and I will until cases are down much lower than this,” said Dr. André Veillette, an immunologist at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute. “Scientifically, medically, I think we should have kept (the mandate) longer — until the wave is finished — but I think now it’s a mix of sociology, psychology, politics.”