Council votes to reinstate mandatory mask rules
City must act to fill `vacuum' left by lack of provincial action: mayor
Masks will again be required in indoor public spaces in Edmonton starting Friday in an effort to curb the spread of a rising fourth wave of COVID -19.
City council voted 8-3 Monday to reinstate the mandate as of Sept. 3. It was deactivated July 1 in line with the province's reopening plan.
Face coverings will be required in all indoor areas accessible by the public, including retail stores, entertainment venues, restaurants and recreation facilities and will continue to be mandated on the transit system and in vehicle-for-hire services.
The mandate will remain in effect until Dec. 31 or when Edmonton's COVID-19 active case rate drops to under 100 per 100,000 people for 10 consecutive days. The city's current case rate is 238.2 per 100,000 people. It was sitting at 58.8 on Aug. 11.
Mayor Don Iveson said masking has proven to be an effective measure in limiting the spread of the virus and reinstating the mandate is the right intervention to take at this time to help ensure businesses don't have to close again.
Because of the close proximity to neighbouring municipalities, Iveson said he would have preferred if the province took the lead at a regional approach, but in the absence of new restrictions the city is again prepared to step in.
“The City of Edmonton, as has happened in the past in this pandemic, is prepared to step in and provide some leadership. We have the least perfect tools to do this, doing this on a city-by-city basis in a region like ours is not the best way forward,” Iveson said Monday.
“But I'm hearing increasing calls from our public and certainly from doctors and nurses and people on the front lines of our health-care system, whose beds are filling up with people not just from Edmonton but across northern Alberta where vaccine uptake is much lower, that some action is required and that some leadership is necessary to fill the vacuum.”
Councillors Tony Caterina, Mike Nickel and Jon Dziadyk voted against reinstating the widespread mask mandate, but Caterina flipped his vote when the final bylaw was approved. Councillors Ben Henderson and Sarah Hamilton were absent and didn't vote.
Exemptions under the bylaw remain, including for those under the age of two, when eating or drinking in a designated area, when engaging in physical activity and for those unable to put on or take off a mask without requiring assistance. The mandate will not apply to schools, hospitals and child-care facilities which are under the jurisdiction of the province.
A fine of $100 could be issued by police or peace officers for violation of the bylaw.
City manager Andre Corbould said gearing up enforcement will come with challenges because provincial public health officers won't be supporting enforcement of the city's directive like they would if it was a provincial requirement. Edmonton now has 2,473 active cases of COVID -19.
VACCINE DISCLOSURE
Also on Monday, Corbould notified council of changes to the city's COVID-19 response for employees, including a mandatory requirement to disclose vaccination status. City staff have until Sept. 10 to disclose whether they have received the vaccine, which Corbould said will be used to inform public health decisions moving forward. This doesn't necessarily mean a mandate if the rate is low, Corbould said, but could mean mask or physical distancing requirements, especially in departments where there is a low uptake.
“Just because we're asking about disclosure of vaccination doesn't mean we're going to make a vaccination decision, it could be a decision on mask wearing,” Corbould said. “It just helps us understand.”
Employees will be required to provide their name, employee number and supervisor's email address that will be collected for tracking purposes only.
Employees who respond that they haven't received any vaccination will be required to indicate the reasoning, whether by personal choice or for a medical or religious reason, the details of which wouldn't be required.