Restore mask protections to BC healthcare

On April 8, 2024, BC abruptly dropped mask requirements for healthcare settings - disregarding guidance from doctors, researchers, and the BC Human Rights Commissioner. The move also shut out the voices of many vulnerable British Columbians, who in the last couple weeks have sent over 18,000 messages calling to maintain and improve healthcare mask protections.

BC claims the downgrade was due to the end of "respiratory illness season" - yet NACI states COVID is not regarded as seasonal.The last time BC dropped healthcare masking, it was followed by multiple COVID outbreaks. The current move comes right after spring break, when increased travel can fuel illness spread - and at a time when continued COVID risks are accompanied by warnings about increased measles, tuberculosis, and H5N1 (avian influenza).

We call on BC to immediately reinstate healthcare mask requirements for healthcare workers, contractors, volunteers and visitors. There is no acceptable level of avoidable infection in healthcare. We also echo our previous demands:

• include patients in universal healthcare mask protections (with reasonable exceptions);

• improve airborne precautions with wider use of respirators, the only masks rated for airborne illnesses;

• require masks in private and community healthcare settings like doctor’s offices and medical labs.

Take Action:

Tell policy-makers NO to dropping masks in healthcare. We brought back masks before, and we can do it again! Share the campaign, then take the next steps:

📃 Do the BC NDP survey (til April 19th)
☎️ Leave phone messages with our phone script
📠 Send free faxes online
📬 Send postcards (mail to Ministers and MLAs is free!)

Note: the Action Network platform requires a return address so the system can find your MLA. If you prefer not to enter your address, you also can use our template wording to email policy-makers yourself.

More on why this matters:

• Patient safety: Downgrading infection control in places like ERs and cancer centres puts patients at greater risk. Hospital-acquired COVID-19 is at least 70 times more deadly than COVID contracted in the community.
• Worker safety: The healthcare sector has the highest rates of WorkSafeBC claims for COVID. We can’t afford to lose more staff - temporarily to acute illness, or long-term to Long COVID.
• Accessibility: Multiple polls show 85-91% of respondents must delay healthcare due to lack of COVID safety. COVID and Long COVID also disproportionately harm Indigenous, racialized, disabled, 2SLBTQIA+ and lower-income communities, making this central to questions of health equity.
• Year-round protection: BC’s spring vaccination campaign underscores the risks COVID poses year round, particularly to the most vulnerable. Since it bears repeating: NACI states that "seasonality of SARS-CoV-2 has not been established."
• A necessary layer: While vaccination is essential, it doesn’t fully prevent infections or long-term health impacts - plus, it’s less effective for many immunocompromised people. Nearly 60% of COVID cases spread asymptomatically, so symptom checks can’t catch all infectious people.PHSA's own infection control policies states that N95s should be used for confirmed or suspected airborne illnesses.
• Protecting our healthcare system: BC faces a healthcare crisis, and healthcare-acquired infections can cause surgical delays, prolonged hospitalization and other interruptions of care. Skyrocketing rates of Long COVID also contribute to healthcare demand.

“If there is one space that all vulnerable people should be able to rely on to prioritize their safety, it is in healthcare settings, including long term care facilities…removal of universal masking directives in healthcare settings does not uphold a human rights centered approach to public health.”

- BC Human Rights Commissioner, April 3, 2023

Learn more at DoNoHarmBC.ca