Municipal officials are mulling over the possibility of mandating face masks on public transit to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
However, at this point, Medical Officer of Health Dr David Colby says he has no plans to issue a community-wide order.
“With five active cases in Chatham-Kent, which is the highest we’ve been in a couple of weeks but it’s still incredibly low, I think an oppressive universal masking law would be not of much use at this time,” Colby says.
Masks are already required by staff in service businesses like restaurants and hair and nail salons, but Colby says that could be expanded.
“We are debating now about whether to require masks for public transit in CK, and exactly how that might be done, we’re thinking about that,” Colby says. “That could either by a policy, a bylaw, or an edict from myself.”
Colby says there’s still a lot of confusion about the fact masks are most effective at containment of the virus rather than protection from it.
However, he believes physical distancing is still the best way to prevent infection.
