JULY 6, 2020 – It might have taken awhile, but Eastern Ontario has decreed that staff and customers mask in.
Months into the Coronavirus Pandemic there still is no real treatment or cure.
The Cornwall area is a particularly vulnerable area. It not only is close to the Quebec border, which many locals complain about on social media, but with the US and Canada border shut down except for front line services, 23,000 Akwesasne residents are allowed to skitter over the border in the Cornwall area at will. (Something a lot more locals have complained about, seeing NYS License plates at local Tim Horton’s drive throughs).
Enclosed Public Spaces are being defined as:
Enclosed Public Space” means indoor public spaces accessed by the public.
These include but are not limited to:
- restaurants, cafés, cafeterias, banquet halls
- retail establishments and shopping malls
- churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, or other places of worship
- libraries, museums, art galleries, recreational facilities, bingo halls, community centres and halls, cinemas, theatres, concert venues, special event venues, convention centers, or other similar entertainment, cultural, or leisure facilities
- sports facilities, sports clubs, gyms, yoga studios, dance studios, and stadiums
- common areas of hotels, motels, or short-term rental premises such as lobbies, elevators, meeting rooms, rest rooms, laundry rooms, gyms, and kitchens
- public and private transportation including taxis and rideshare services
- common areas of premises under the control of a regulated health professional under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 18, as amended, such as waiting rooms
- common areas of hospitals and independent health facilities such as lobbies, food courts and retail establishments
- spas, hair salons, barbers, nail salons, and other personal service settings that are subject to health and safety protocols provided by the Province of Ontario during the provincial emergency
- municipal public spaces
The onus is on operators to enforce the law on their clients across Eastern Ontario and Ottawa:
Medical Officers of Health from Eastern Ontario Health Unit; Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit; Renfrew County and District Health Unit and Ottawa Public Health announced a regional approach to the use of masks in their respective jurisdictions.
Each public health unit will be invoking a directive under the province’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act that requires individuals to wear a mask in certain enclosed public spaces. Under the directive, the person responsible for a business or organization that is open shall operate the business or organization in compliance with the advice, recommendations and instructions of public health officials, including any advice, recommendations or instructions on physical distancing, cleaning or disinfecting. The EOHU’s Directive takes effect as of July 7th at 12:00 A.M.