Wearing masks in public should be required in Waterloo Region

Let’s get right to it.

Why aren’t we all being ordered to wear masks in public?

I have a sinking feeling as Waterloo Region people joyfully come out of their homes and into shopping malls, restaurants and splash pads in a partial reopening of the economy.

As we celebrate, we’re going to let our collective guard down — and we’re going to breathe and cough all over each other. You know we are.

Many of us are acting as if the public health crisis is over, but it’s not over. We know the “second wave” is coming and it will kill many more.

A poll from Leger and Association for Canadian Studies, conducted last week, says three out of four Canadians expect a second wave of the COVID-19 virus and anticipate it will be worse than what we have already gone through.

We know that even homemade masks provide some protection against infecting others.

And so the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit will make it mandatory to have your face covered inside a commercial establishment, starting Friday. There are exceptions for children under age two, people who have difficulty breathing, and those who have medical problems if they wear a mask.

Meanwhile, the cities of Hamilton and Toronto have each said masks will soon be mandatory when riding on transit.

But Waterloo Region is only recommending these measures. Not requiring them.

The suggestion is to wear a mask “where physical distancing cannot be guaranteed, including on public transit,” said acting medical officer of health Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang.

There are a few problems with this approach.

First, we live in an unpredictable world. If nothing else, this disaster called The Year 2020 has taught us that there are no guarantees.

That includes the mundane details of everyday life. You can be minding your own business, conscientiously following the arrows in the aisles at your local grocery store and waiting in line two metres behind someone else at the cash.

But you can’t guarantee that someone else won’t surprise you by whipping around the corner in the wrong direction, or squeezing too close behind you as you check the nutrition label on the spaghetti sauce.

I’m not normally a germophobe. But last time I was on a bus, I was very nervous. About three-quarters of the passengers weren’t wearing masks. Because of the design of buses, physical distancing was impossible even though the vehicle was only about a quarter full.

Peter Zinck, director of transit services for Waterloo Region, said drivers have been provided with masks which they may wear if they wish, and Plexiglas barriers have been installed. Officials will watch what happens, and may require masks if not enough riders wear them voluntarily.

“We’ll make necessary changes as we go forward,” he said.

The whole point, though, of masks and handwashing and physical distancing is that everyone has to do it for it to be effective.

The only way to get everyone to do anything is to apply the power of the law.

It’s an ominous sign that Grand River Conservation Authority had to close some of its parks this week, because people congregated in large groups, without physical distancing.

Perhaps it’s too hard. After three months of being obediently cooped up, we may be so giddy at the thought of lunch on a restaurant patio, or getting a haircut, or going to the beach, that we just can’t take any more restrictions. We’re bingeing on our new-found freedoms. We just can’t be trusted to do the right thing on our own.