The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit will not be issuing a masking order or direction for school-age children when the provincial masking mandate gets lifted next week.
"At this point the public health service is not considering any mandates to schools related to wearing masks," says acting medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai.
He says the health unit will follow guidelines from the province and adds the health unit is in communication with local school boards.
"Obviously it's something that we'll continue to monitor and continuing dialog with our school board colleagues. The schools are governed by the school board and the Ministry of Education and they have the responsibilities for the operational aspects of the schools but we'll continue to have dialog with them."
Dr. Nesathurai is asking individuals to wear a mask indoors if they cannot remain two metres away from someone, and says just because something is not mandated, doesn't mean one should not do it or could not do it.
"In this particular instance at this stage in the pandemic, I think wearing a mask indoors especially when you cannot remain constantly two metres away from somebody else is a good thing to do," he continued. "It helps the person wearing the mask and it also helps other people."
Dr. Nesathurai feels parents can make the decision based on facts, circumstances and risks.
"From my prospective, parents can guide their children based on what they believe it best for their children and if parents choose to direct their children to wear a mask at school, I think that will help the child to the extent and it will help other children in the class and the community overall," he said.
The province is lifting its mask mandate in most indoor settings on March 21.
As AM800 news reported last week, the University of Windsor is keeping its vaccination and mask policies in place until at least the end of April to minimize uncertainty and disruption to the UWindsor community.