{"id":27031,"date":"2020-07-16T17:56:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T21:56:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=27031"},"modified":"2020-07-16T17:56:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T21:56:07","slug":"mandatory-face-coverings-must-complement-physical-distancing-hygiene-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/mandatory-face-coverings-must-complement-physical-distancing-hygiene-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandatory face coverings must \u201ccomplement\u201d physical distancing, hygiene: Region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mandatory face coverings will be required in all indoor\npublic spaces this Friday, July 17, but the new measures must \u201ccomplement\u201d\nphysical distancing and other hygiene guidelines, caution York Region Public\nHealth Officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Region\u2019s medical team stated their case in favour of\nmandatory masks and face coverings at a Special Council Meeting last Thursday,\nwhich lasted more than six hours through a series of presentations, discussions\non merits, enforcement and education, and closed-door sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There, the team led by Dr. Karim Kurji, York Region\u2019s\nMedical Officer of Health, said a decision on the use of masks is best made by\nRegional Council, but made a case for its efficacy going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFace coverings are an additional measure and not a\nsubstitute for other things like physical distancing,\u201d said Dr. Fareen\nKarachiwalla, Associate Medical Officer of Health. \u201cThe question before Council\ntoday is whether all various factors that I\u2019ll present warrant moving beyond\nrecommending face coverings to requiring their use for purposes of what we call\n\u2018source control\u2019 \u2013 wearing a mask to protect others around you and not\nnecessarily yourself, and that is in keeping with the latest science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic, she said, is \u201csomewhat unpredictable and\ncan change quite a bit from week to week\u201d and last week was still too early to\naccurately gauge the impacts of York Region moving into Stage 2 of Ontario\u2019s re-opening\nplan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you look at the evidence as a whole, it is growing in\nsupport of the effectiveness of face coverings,\u201d continued Dr. Karachiwalla.\n\u201cIf you compare places with very high rates of face coverings with those that\ndon\u2019t have as high rates, including the US, there is a positive effect on\nthings like death rates [and] daily growth of cases. Modelling studies have\nalso found that more widespread use [of masks does] prevent a substantial\nportion of both cases and deaths, and one or two modelling studies actually\npoint to how the effect is most optimal when the uptake [in mask use] in the\npopulation is closer to 80 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also know based on studies looking at performance of\nface coverings that some face coverings can actually be a suitable alternative\nto medical masks, particularly when they are made up of at least two layers of\ntightly-woven yet breathable fabric and adequately cover the nose and mouth and\ngo below the chin.  One modelling study\neven found that even with the lower quality face coverings, a benefit can be\nhad when the uptake is high \u2013 that 80 per cent range.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Region did not have \u201cdefinitive estimates\u201d on\nthe use of face coverings in York Region in either different settings nor\ndifferent communities, survey data and \u201csome observations\u201d gave them a \u201crough\nidea\u201d and they calculated that average face mask use stood at approximately 65\nper cent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn addition to our own observations, a population survey\nthat was recently conducted on Canadians found that in Ontario about 56 per\ncent of people report wearing face coverings and they do this more often when\ngoing to places like grocery stores or pharmacies and, interestingly, a bit\nless so on transit and when going into their own workplaces,\u201d said Dr.\nKarachiwalla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, benefits of a more universal approach to face\ncovering use are myriad, she noted, including resulting in \u201cfeelings of\nempowerment in the community\u201d because people feel they are doing something to\n\u201ctake action\u201d against COVID-19, and it can also help reduce the stigma for\nthose who are wearing face coverings \u201cbecause they themselves are at higher\nrisk\u201d and normalizes their use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the interesting findings of some of the studies I\nam looking at is the fact that face coverings can provide a very strong visual\ncue of the fact the pandemic continues to be ongoing and actually because of\nthis visual cue or symbol oftentimes [people are] more likely to follow\nphysical distancing because of that signal,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is informative for\nus and provides a bit more context and information to some claims that face\ncoverings might result in actually riskier behaviour because of a false sense\nof security. More universal use of face coverings can also help frontline\nworkers, so at grocery stores or retail outlets, for example, feel more\nprotected [and] comfortable while at work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, there are also \u201cunintended risks\u201d, she said. While\nwearing face coverings is \u201cusually quite safe\u201d exceptions must be made for\npeople who have breathing difficulties, have certain medical conditions, or\ncan\u2019t safely put on or take off face masks independently. Exemptions should\nalso be made for younger children. Another potential negative she underscored\nfor members of Regional Council was the adverse impact mandatory face coverings\nwould have on individuals, such as the hearing impaired, who rely more than\nmost on lip-reading and facial communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is really important to keep in mind is the possible\nimpact on people that are unable to wear face covering because of medical\nreasons. These individuals may feel pressure to disclose their health status,\nand that is typically not required, and may experience some negative social\nreaction from others if they are not wearing a face covering, or isolation if\nthey feel more reluctant to go out into the community. Any policy must be quite\nmindful of this and public education is needed to inform the community of\nreasons why people may not be able to wear face coverings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther equity considerations to keep in mind [are]\nregularly procuring a face covering could represent a financial or time barrier\nto some families, and depending on enforcement, monetary fines can add a\nfinancial burden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why, she said, the primary goal with recommending\nmandatory face coverings is education \u2013 providing a \u201cverbal reminder to patrons\nas opposed to strict enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFace coverings are not a standalone intervention,\u201d she\nsaid. \u201cThey are just one type of intervention and they must be complimented\nwith others like the physical distancing, hand-washing and, of course, the\ncornerstone of public health intervention, which is testing and contact\ntracing. These are things that York Region is performing quite well on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegardless of the decision that Council takes today, York Region will continue to actively monitor trends in disease, manage and educate the public, track the evidence very carefully and continue to evaluate and re-evaluate the need for any changes in direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mandatory face coverings will be required in all indoor public spaces this Friday, July 17, but the new measures must \u201ccomplement\u201d physical distancing and other hygiene guidelines, caution York Region Public Health Officials. The Region\u2019s medical team stated their case in favour of mandatory masks and face coverings at a Special Council Meeting last Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-71Z","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 22:54:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}