Municipalities bring in own mandatory mask bylaws
The Windsor-essex County Health Unit has announced its support for local municipalities creating mandatory mask bylaws, calling it a good move for public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although public health officials in the region issued an order in June making face coverings a must inside commercial establishments, health unit CEO Theresa Marentette said the decision to expand on that order by Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and the municipalities of Leamington and Lakeshore will mean an increase in education and enforcement.
“Municipalities have the ability to enforce expanded mask requirements through their bylaw officers and enforcement officers, so it’s quite common for the municipality to have an added measure for public places or municipal places,” Marentette said during the health unit’s daily virtual news conference on Thursday.
The Municipality of Leamington on Wednesday announced all staff, customers and visitors entering an indoor public space would be required to wear a cloth mask, effective immediately. The bylaw applies to transit vehicles, washrooms, community centres and several other indoor locations that don’t fall under the “commercial establishment” category.
Starting Aug. 19, the City of Windsor’s new mask order will also require that individuals wear face coverings while attending indoor public spaces, including apartment building lobbies and churches.
Lakeshore council has asked administration to draft a mandatory mask bylaw for the town.
“The added ... assistance with bylaw and other enforcement agencies will definitely help all of us in the community,” Marentette said.
“It will help enforce public health measures — the masks to protect ourselves and others. Of course, everyone providing the education and monitoring this (order) will help the whole community as we reopen, and as more and more people are attending other establishments and going out into public places.”
Currently, the health unit’s tobacco and vaping enforcement officers are the ones who respond to complaints about non-compliance with public health orders at commercial establishments. Many of those complaints have been about a lack of physical distancing on restaurant patios, but some are about improper mask use.
The health unit has weekly discussions with the chief administrative officers of each municipality in Essex County and Windsor, Marentette said. During those discussions, public health has addressed what its mask order includes, “and where there’s an ability to expand that order from a municipal lens.”
Although Marentette supports the municipalities that decide to expand on the health unit’s mask order with their own bylaws, the health unit does not intend to make changes to its own mask order, she said.