Woman Refuses to Wear Mask at Toronto Hospital, Video Provokes Huge Response

177 次觀看・4 年前

A Toronto woman has made headlines in Canada after she refused to wear a mask at a hospital on July 4.

Letitia Montana, who recorded this footage, said she was escorted from St Joseph’s Health Centre by three security guards for refusing to wear a mask when asked. She was seeking treatment at the hospital for a suspected broken finger, she said.

“I was asked to wear a mask, which I refused to do,” she wrote on Twitter. “As a result, hospital staff asked me to leave and immediately called three security guards to escort me out.”

This video, which had been viewed six million times by July 10, shows medical staff asking her to wear a mask in the building, citing government policy.

“You’re going to deny me service if I don’t wear a mask?” Montana asks in the footage.

“I’m at St Joseph’s hospital they’re telling me that if i don’t wear a mask they’re not going to assist me. They want me to leave,” she adds.

According to CTV News, Unity Health Toronto said staff at St Joseph’s were following guidelines set out by Ontario’s Ministry of Health.

“At St Joseph’s and any of our Unity Health Toronto sites, you will be asked questions about any COVID-19 related symptoms, to wear a mask and remember to maintain physical distancing in all parts of the hospital,” they said.

Ontario’s health minister, Christine Elliott, thanked staff at the hospital. “When seeking care, each of us should follow all protocols in place at hospitals to help protect frontline workers and other patients,” she said, as quoted by CTV News.

It became mandatory to wear a mask in all public, indoor spaces in Toronto on July 7. Letitia Montana was present at an anti-mask rally on the same day. Credit: Letitia Montana via Storyful