Shomporko Desk:-A temporary bylaw making non-medical masks mandatory in public indoor spaces takes effect today in Toronto.
City council voted to make the move a week ago, after Toronto’s medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa, suggested it in a report that was likewise supported by Mayor John Tory.
“It is about respecting and protecting each other,” Tory said at a news conference.
“We trust there is an ever-increasing number of individuals out in the stores and in the businesses across the city. We need that to appear for the sake of our economy and for coming back to a nearer to typical sort of life.”
Exceptions will be made for anyone who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons, as well as for children under two years old. The city has previously said there will not be “aggressive enforcement” of the new bylaw, and that the city will instead focus on educating the public about the importance of the order.
Masks have worked to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in other jurisdictions in which residents consistently wear them, and a mandatory mask rule should result in higher uptake, de Villa said last week.
Non-medical face coverings became mandatory on the TTC last Thursday, and the University of Toronto said it would also implement the rule at all of its campuses beginning today.
Similar policies are expected to come into force throughout the Greater Toronto Area in the coming days and weeks.
Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon, as well as York and Durham regions, are all considering bylaws of their own, though they are at various stages in the implementation process.
Photo credit: Getty Images
News source: CBC News
