A Canadian man has been denied treatment at a Toronto hospital and forcibly removed from the facility by security staff because he wasn’t wearing a face mask.
Video of the incident has gone viral on social media after the man, known only as Eugene, filmed hospital staff as they removed him.
Eugene refused to comply with the demands and told hospital security he wouldn’t wear a mask.
They responded by calling the police to have him arrested for trespassing.
After a few minutes of arguing back and forth, the hospital security workers removed Eugene from the property with force.
WATCH:
Watch: Man physically removed and charged with trespassing for refusing to wear a mask at a Toronto hospital.
It's hard to believe that this is still continuing three years later, especially given the fact that many places, including hospitals, are lifting mask mandates across… pic.twitter.com/eLFL2wGDTy
— The Canadian Independent (@canindependent) May 4, 2023
“On April 7, experiencing extreme abdomen pain, later diagnosed as kidney stones, Eugene went to the Bayview campus of Sunnybrook,” according to the Toronto Sun.
“When asked to put on a mask to be seen by a doctor, he refused, and security was called to deal with him.”
“Eugene wasn’t arrested after he was taken outside, he simply had a conversation with the police officers who were called,” the Sun also reported.
“They offered him a ride to another hospital.”
Eugene told the outlet that the hospital has no good reason to enforce a mask mandate.
“This mask mandate for hospitals doesn’t make sense anymore,” he said.
“They don’t ask people to wear gloves or wash their hands.
“As a personal thing, I decided that I would not wear a mask when there is no reason.”
In 2020, a Toronto woman was killed after being restrained by hospital security when she too wouldn’t wear a mask.
The woman’s family filed a $16-million lawsuit in January 2023 against the workers who restrained her and the University Health Network.
In response to the recent video of Eugene being forcibly removed over the mask dispute, Toronto Sun political columnist Brian Lilley published an article calling for mask mandates to end at Ontario hospitals.
The pandemic is now such a non-threat that even the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it over.
On Friday, WHO Chief Tedros Ghebreyesus announced: “I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency.”
READ MORE: Masks Poison People with Carbon Dioxide Buildup, Study Warns