Should mask use be mandatory in Simcoe Muskoka?
In his weekly COVID-19 media briefing on June 30, Dr. Charles Gardner, medical officer of health for Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU), said that there has been increased interest of late in a legislated requirement for mask use.
Dr. Gardner noted that he has been part of discussions at the provincial level about the rationale for and merits of mandatory mask use, and that he has been asked by politicians across the health unit’s catchment area whether they should be enacting temporary bylaws or if he would be issuing an order regarding mask use.
“It is actively under review right now,” he said, adding that he will continue discussions with municipal leaders about use of masks in crowded indoor settings where physical distancing is difficult or impossible.
Some Ontario municipalities already have mandatory mask requirements. The medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and for the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox, and Addington health unit have both issued orders to enforce use of masks for people in commercial settings, the former due to relatively high rates of transmission in that area and nearby regions as Stage 2 reopening occurs, and the latter in response to a COVID-19 outbreak associated with a nail salon.
Dr. Gardner noted that Toronto Public Health has recommended to Toronto City Council that it enact a temporary bylaw requiring the wearing of masks or face coverings in enclosed public settings (see the report to Toronto council here), and said that Ottawa Public Health is exploring a similar recommendation.
Legislation regarding mandatory mask use could be accomplished in one of three ways: through the Province, through an order from a health unit, or through a temporary municipal bylaw.
Premier Ford has spoken to the difficulty of enforcing a province-wide requirement. Dr. Gardner said that it would also be difficult to enforce a health unit order, as this type of order can only be enforced by health unit staff and they are completely tied up otherwise in responding to the demands of COVID-19. Individual municipalities may or may not have adequate resources to enforce a temporary bylaw.
“At the end of the day, it would be fair to say that it would be incumbent upon everybody to self-enforce if it were going to work regardless,” said Dr. Gardner. “You’d really need a lot of public good will for it to work.”
In response to a question from Huntsville Doppler about mask use by employees in food service settings, like the recently opened patios, he said, “Those who are working in the provision of food need to be wearing masks because they are coming in close contact with their customers… That is included in the recommendations, the guidelines from the Province, from the health unit. And we are happy to follow up if there are complaints to see what we can do to get compliance happening.”
He added that if there were an order or bylaw in place regarding mandatory mask use, it would have to be broad in scope to include work environments where members of the public come in close contact with workers and where workers are in close contact with each other, both indoor and outdoor public venues where people may gather when the province eventually moves into Stage 3 reopening, and transit where there is potential for crowding.
In a video message to residents today, Mayor Karin Terziano said that she has received requests from residents to make mask use mandatory in commercial settings.
“To set an example, when we reopen Town Hall on Monday, July 6, it will be signed ‘no entry without a mask’. That will apply to all Town facilities,” she said.
Terziano said that she supports and encourages wearing of masks by everyone when inside, except for young children and those with breathing difficulties. “I encourage everyone and every business to make it a priority.”
Council will discuss the issue at its July 9 meeting. “Until that time, I encourage Huntsville to step up their mask wearing,” said Terziano. “It’s a small ask that could produce huge rewards.”
Some local businesses have already taken matters into their own hands and require that customers wear a mask.
The health unit has advice for public mask-use, as well as other control measures like physical distancing and good hand hygiene, on its website here. There’s information for businesses on how to operate safely here.
Anyone with complaints about businesses not following preventative measures can contact the SMDHU Health Connection line at 705-721-7520 (1-877-721-7520) or using their secure online form here. Workers who have a concern about their health and safety that their employer is not addressing can file a complaint with the Health and Safety Contact Centre at 1-877-202-0008.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
Hi Verna,
Yes, the new mask requirement, which goes into effect on July 13, includes churches.
We’ll have a more details on this posted later today.
Do you have to wear a mask to church ?
I think everyone should be wearing a mask in a closed space, it protects us from the other person, & the other person from us.
Ray, There is a vast body of data proving that masks work. Doctors have been wearing masks to protect patients in the operating room for 100 years. Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities world wide have all workers in masks because it has been shown countless times that resipratory particles are the second largest source of bacterial and viral contamination of the products being manufactured. The size of the virus is irrelevant, because the respiratory particles that carry them are huge in comparison. Not all masks are equal, but even crappy ones have been proven through infrared and active air sampling analysis to result in smaller plumes of particles. The very act of your vocal chords vibrating produces thousands of particles per minute. Yelling and singing produce far more. Masks work. There is no doubt. There are many studies, you just have to do a tiny bit of research to find them. Pubmed is a good place to start. YouTube is not.
Hans Marschdorf. Well said and presented. There is lots of evidence out there suggesting that wearing a mask can reduce spread of virus droplets by as much as six-fold….thats a ton.
Yes Ray, if you can keep spit in your mouth with a mask that would be helpful!!
WEARS MASKS FOLKS or go the way of our friends to the south where personal rights are deemed more important than being team players and doing what’s right for the common good
I support the use of masks in closed public spaces. The provincial government is now thinking of moving into Stage 3 of reopening which means more risk of spreading the virus and the need for proactive measures to reduce that risk. I encourage our Major and elected council to vote for the use of masks in closed spaces but also to consider public education on the proper wearing of masks. Too often I have witnessed people neglecting to cover their nose as well as their mouth. A sneeze can spread the virus as well as talking and coughing.
Ray, what kind of proof would you like to see? Do expert witnesses count? How about the World Health Organization, Dr. Anthony Fauci from the US CDC, Theresa Tam? Do you really think you can assess the scientific experiments better than they can? Would you even find the on-switch on the microscope? I wouldn’t. That’s what experts are for (and lots more, of course). Remember, what you read on Facebook is most often incorrect, the chain link fence example included. Why not read up on the facts before you write.
Masks do make a positive difference in the spread of this virus and some big and small businesses are doing their part such as Metro. The same cannot be said for Independent, CTC & Home Depot. Lets not be like those south of here that have little or no respect for others. We care for everyone here so let us all wear masks and hopefully reap the benefits of same.
Masks should be mandatory in all public places. That should include everyone. Without a mask on, we can’t stop the spread of Covid. A mask protects wearer as well as any person nearby. I would be overjoyed to see all staff in any business wearing one! Do you hear me,
Independent and any other place I need to visit. I want to support locally but I won’t if you appear not to protect by the simple task of putting on a mask.
Please help stop the spread.
I would like to see some proof that wearing a mask stops the virus or if it just makes people feel less threatened . It stops spit and that is about all and a lot depends on the mask i read that a cloth mask is like putting up a chain link fence to keep out mosquitoes. And most other masks are only good for one time then have to be discarded or they are useless.
Yes I would like to see more poeple wearing mask to many are not wearing them in grocer stores and drugstores we will have a surge of covid19 in the fall so wake up poeple this is very serious