Human rights complaint filed against B.C. health-care authority over N95 respirator ban

A class complaint has been filed at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against a regional health-care authority over their policy prohibiting hospital patients and visitors from using N95 respirators.

The complaint was filed by Vancouver resident Lena Patsa on Wednesday against Fraser Health, the province's largest health-care authority by population.

Patsa says she belongs to a group of people who are at higher risk of contracting severe COVID-19, and that Fraser Health's policyprohibiting the use of N95 masksmakes people like her feel unsafe accessing health care.

Current federal guidance recommends the use of N95-style respiratorsas a protective measure against COVID-19 theresult ofaccepted scientific consensus that the coronavirusistransmittedthrough the air.

N95 respirators are estimated to filter out 95 per cent of microscopic particles in the air.

"There's a lot of people [in hospitals], it's an enclosed space, and they're not making exceptions for people who are of high risk of contracting severe disease," Patsa told CBC News.

"[That] read to me as a clear human rights violation."

Patsa adds thatpatients wearing their own N95 masks pose no risk to those around them and it is not a load on the system from a financial perspective.

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More people are wearing N95 or KN95 masks after the surge of the Omicron variant. Experts say it's important to create a fitted seal and wear them consistently.

A spokesperson for Fraser Health redirected all enquiries to B.C.'s Ministry of Health, who confirmed thatrules requiring all patients to wear medical masks remainin place provincewide.

"Poorly fitted or poor-quality respirators do not meet the Infection Prevention and Control standards in place at health-care sites, including immunization clinics and hospitals," a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

"Staff and visitors at clinical sites are provided with medical grade surgical masks that have been tested and validated."

The ministry said no medical procedures have been cancelled or rescheduled as a result of the policy.

Patsa saysconcerns around the fit of N95 respiratorsare not backed by science, with one peer-reviewed study showing even a poorly-fitted N95 respirator providing better protection against COVID-19 than a medical mask.

'I have such a fear'

For one cancer patient, the province's requirement for the use of medical masksin hospitals causes "huge" anxiety.

Jeremy Franta, from Delta, B.C., says he has to visit the hospital three times a month on average fortreatment, and that he has sleepless nights before each visit because of the policy.

"I'm up early. I'm running through every scenario in the world of what I'm going to do," he said.

"What if they stopped me? I'm practicing techniques I'm going to use to sneak in my [N95] mask somehow because I have such a fear."

Franta says he has often been told to remove his N95 mask in favour of a medical mask, so hewears the blue medical mask over theN95 respirator before walking into the hospital.

He describes himself "shaking like a leaf" every time he walks in wearing an N95 respirator.

"It is so overwhelming," he said. "I shouldn't have to fight to protect myself and my life, you know? And neither should others."

Franta says he feels abandoned by the provincial government as a disabled immunocompromised person.

He sayshe is willing to get his N95 respiratorfit-tested if that's what hospital settings require, and that the province should encourageN95 use instead of clamping down on them.

"It's so backwards," he said. "They're not following science Why can't they just be proactive and help the British Columbians? It's crazy to me."