Some Ontario parents support wearing masks but not mandating them in schools

Parent reacts to Moore's mask recommendation Miriam Guttierez shares her opinion on the new guidance from Ontario's top doctor which strongly recommends mask wearing indoors.

Kevin Mendes' four-year-old daughter, Hazel, wore a mask to the grocery store with her dad.

"My daughter's sniffly, she woke up today not 100 per cent, of course, mask on no matter what," he said. "If she's not well enough to be in school without a mask, she's been at home."

The province is urgently calling on everyone to wear masks in public, to protect children who are Hazel's age and younger.

Dr. Kieran Moore even suggested families with young children wear masks at home when someone is sick.

Mendes said that already happens in his house.

"It's not going to work ever in my household," said Chris Leavans, but he is supportive of encouraging more mask wearing.

"I think it's probably a good idea because it beats filling hospitals and it beats being sick," he said.

Adel Mamhikoff has two school-aged kids who were sick over the weekend and thinks masks in the house kept him healthy.

"My wife and I were masking up, and we asked them to do the same thing just so we didn't spread it any further," he told CTV News Toronto.

He is seeing a lot of viruses circulating, adding that in one of his kid's classes, "four or five kids are sick on any given day, so (masks) might help a bit."

Ashley Barnes has seen the same thing in her daughter's class.

"Last week so many kids were out with the flu, I think my daughter's class had nine kids missing in it."

She said part of the problem might be the lack of access to medicine like acetaminophen.

"As a parent, (when) your kid has a fever usually you give them medicine, we can't get it so we go to the hospital," Barnes said.

Health Canada has announced it secured a foreign supply of children's acetaminophen that will be sold at pharmacies in the coming weeks.

Most parents told CTV News Toronto they'd be happy to see more mask messaging but not a mandate.

"I'd be happy to see it happening more," said Mendes. "I'm not particularly looking for it to be enforced more. I think everyone has their own protocol."