Mandatory Mask or Face Covering

July 13, 2020 Posted in: ASK AN EXPERT

Customers of commercial businesses in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County will be required to wear masks beginning on Monday, July 13th.

Dr. Lynn Noseworthy, medical officer of health for the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, issued instructions on Tuesday (July 7) to the owners and operators of commercial establishments currently open during stage two of the province’s reopening, requiring that those businesses have a policy in place that requires people to wear a non-medical mask or face covering before entering their commercial establishment.

The instructions have been issued under the authority of Ontario Regulation 263/20 under the provincial Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA).

There have been 171 cases of COVID-19 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (147 of which are resolved), 21 in Northumberland County (21 of which are resolved), and 10 in Haliburton County (nine of which resolved). The last positive case in Kawartha Lakes was on Friday, July 3rd when two cases were reported.

The requirement for non-medical masks or face covering use within local businesses will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 13, 2020. The use of masks will be required while the provincial emergency order remains in force or until such time that the Ontario Ministry of Health lifts the requirement.

Under the health unit’s instructions, commercial establishments are premises that are openly accessible to members of the public and used for the purposes of offering goods or services for sale.

An establishment would include a mall or other structure containing commercial premises, including retail stores, convenience stores, restaurants, personal services settings, grocery stores, and bakeries, gas stations, indoor farmers’ markets, and areas of mechanics’ shops, garages, or repair shops which are open to the public.

Dr. Noseworthy says wearing a mask is about protecting other people, and reduces the likelihood that someone could unknowingly spread the virus to another person.

“Provincially, we have seen a number of asymptomatic cases,” she says. “This is just another step in doing what we can to protect our family, friends, and neighbors in our communities.”

The health unit says it will be taking a “progressive enforcement approach” to ensure compliance, with a focus on education. The focus will be to educate people on the use of non-medical masks or face coverings on premises where physical distancing may be difficult. As per the EMCPA, businesses that do not comply with the requirements may be fined.

Additional education and enforcement will be conducted by health unit staff, as well as by local municipal by-law officers and police officers.

There are exemptions to the policy and a person will be exempt from wearing a non-medical mask or face-covering in the premises if:

• The person is a child under the age of two years.
• The person is a child under the age of five years, either chronologically or developmentally, and he or she refuses to wear a face covering and cannot be persuaded to do so by their caregiver.
• The person is incapacitated and unable to remove their mask without assistance.
• The person cannot safely wear a non-medical mask or face covering for any other medical reason, such as but not limited to respiratory disease, cognitive difficulties, or difficulties in hearing or processing information.
• The person cannot wear a non-medical mask or face covering for any religious reason or cannot cover the face in a manner that would properly control the source.