This week at City Council we considered a number of amendments to the Temporary Mandatory Mask By-law that included: extending the temporary by-law to October 31, 2020 as well as adding common areas of condos and apartment buildings be incorporated into the by-law. I am pleased that this amendment was made as I have been advocating for this measure over the past few months after hearing from many concerned residents living in Bay ward apartments and condos.
Council also delegated authority to the General Manager of Emergency and Protective Services to require masks as needed in outdoor areas where physical distancing is not possible. Based on advice from the Medical Officer of Health, the General Manager can make masks mandatory in any high-risk area for up to 60 days and rescind the order once the risk is reduced. This amendment comes after seeing, over the course of the spring and summer, several instances of large outdoor gatherings where people were not wearing masks or maintaining physical distance.
It is our goal to ensure that we continue to keep the community spread of Covid-19 as low as possible especially as schools are reopening.
With that being said, I ask everyone to please be kind to those persons who are unable to wear a mask. There are certain circumstances where this is not feasible for some, and we need to respect their cause or reason without judgement.
