Masks are now mandatory at all Nova Scotia Health facilities as influenza cases start to climb earlier than normal, the health authority announced Tuesday.

This includes all hospitals, emergency rooms, Nova Scotia Health clinics, long-term care facilities and health homes.

The mandate comes a month earlier than last year.

Dr. Shelly McNeil, senior medical director of the Emerging and Re-Emerging Infections Network, said it’s because Nova Scotia is experiencing an earlier rise in influenza cases.

“We’ve been seeing this increase across the country, and we have also been seeing earlier hospitalizations and earlier upticks in emergency department visits for COVID-19 and flu, or for acute respiratory illness, that’s much earlier than typically seen here,” said McNeil.