Health-care workers will soon have to wear N95 masks in COVID-19 hot zones

Eight months after the province's public health director said they should be used only sparingly,Quebec's workplacesafety board is requiringhealth-care workers in hot zones to wear N95 face masks, or models with evenbetter protection.

This change comes into effect onThursday, and is meant to provide health-care workers in hot zones in hospitals, clinics, long-term care homes and private residences with better protection againstCOVID-19.

The N95and N99respirators are so named because they're designed tofilter out at least 95 per cent and 99 per cent of airborne particlesrespectively,including pathogens.

According to the workplace health and safety board (or CNESST), recent recommendations from experts,including Quebec'spublic healthresearchinstitute, played a significant role in its decision.

"This announcement comes in the wake of new scientific knowledge and the changing context, particularly with regard to the increased, infectious potential of the new variants," said Nicolas Bgin, a spokesperson for the CNESST.

Last June,Quebec public health director Dr. Horacio Arrudaordered that N95 masks be wornby health-care staff only during procedures that are demonstrated to generate airborne particles or respiratory droplets, such as intubation.

That decision resulted ina court challenge by the province's largest nurses' union, the Fdration interprofessionnelle de la sant du Qubec. In November, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that the union's challenge needed to be heard before Quebec's workplace safety board tribunal prior to it landing before the courts.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Labour Minister Jean Bouletwelcomed the new requirement.

"Our workers that have been at the forefront since the beginning of this pandemic need to have access to the best protection to care for people dealing with the virus," he said.

'8 months late, but it's a start' says labour federation

A labour federation representingtens of thousands of the province's health-care workers also welcomedthe CNESST's decision, but was quick to point out it should have been made much sooner.

"It's good news. It's eight months late, but it's a start," said Jeff Begley, thehead of the federation of health and social services (FSSS-CSN).

"It's a very good first step, even if it is very late."

Begley hopes the new rule will beappliedwithout exceptions, and that health-care workers will now be better protected while on the job.

Begley said hisfederation once asked Health Minister Christian Dubduring a meeting if the province's supply of N95 masks was limited, and if a shortage was behind the government'sreluctance to distribute them more broadly.

"And the ministry assured us that there inno problem of a shortage of masks," Begley said. "So, again, I'm going to take them at their word and let's make sure that they get out there."

When Dub was asked on Tuesday if the province had a sufficient stockpile of Quebec-made N95s to meet the new requirement, he was unequivocal.

"The answer is yes," he said.