Public Health officials have indicated that all COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted by mid-March, but that doesn’t mean that people should stop wearing masks or exercise physical distancing.

Infectious disease physician and an associate professor at Memorial’s Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Peter Daley says masks have proven very effective in containing the spread of disease.

He points to the sudden drop in seasonal flu cases when public health mandates were put in place.

“We know masks work because we know how viruses work” says Dr. Daley.

They help to contain the spread of respiratory droplet transmission and he says he’ll continue to wear his mask while the there may remain any risk of COVID-19 transmission.