Northern B.C. doctors urge residents to wear masks

Doctors in Prince Rupertareurging residents to don homemade, fabric face masks to prevent the spread of COVID in a community with just twoventilators.

Nineteen North Coast physicians signed an open letter that "strongly encourages" residents to cover their face with cloth whenever they go out in public, in order to protect others from their respiratory droplets.

"The mask is to protect somebody from you, not the other way around," Dr. Johannes Piek, a GP anesthetistat the Prince Rupert Hospital, told CBC News. "Out of respect, wear a mask to protect everyone around you. It might make a difference."

The medical advice from the northern doctors was issued late last week, several days before Canada''s top doctor softened her opposition to the publicuse of masks.

Now, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, says that wearing a non-medical mask can help stop the spread of COVID-19, when used with other measures like handwashing and distancing.

Health officials shift policy on masks

That represents an about-face for the public health officer who until now hadresisted the idea of non-health care professionals wearing masks.

British Columbia's provincial health officer stopped short of a blanket recommendation but conceded non-medical use of masks for those who aren't sick might be useful in certain situations,like in a grocery store or on public transitwhere it's difficult to practise physical distancing.

Doctors in Prince Rupertsay health officials should be encouragingCanadians to wearmasks. Theysay their recommendationfollows the lead of Asian countries where people wear masks and infections have slowed.

"My mask protects you. Your mask protects me," said the physicians in their statement.

'My mask protects you'

For weeks, the Prince Rupert doctors have been advocating for tougher local measures to prevent COVID-19. They say an outbreak in their community could be a disaster.

"We have only two functioning ventilators in the hospital and ... it is impossible to underestimate the enormity of a potential major outbreak.," Piek saidlast month.

Meanwhile, a community effort is underway in Prince Rupert to produce fabric masks for local use. Medical professionals have vetted the design and the hospital is sanitizing the fabric.