(File photo/CKOM News Staff)

By Logan Stein

Saskatoon city council looking at mandatory mask options

Jul 29, 2020 | 12:32 PM

Saskatoon won’t be implementing a mandatory mask policy until at least the end of August.

City officials told councillors on Monday they are preparing reports on where the City would have authority to enforce a mandatory mask bylaw for private business and other common areas.

There’s a number of questions as to what the policy could look like in the city, as well as how it could be upheld.

“Ideally the city would like to work with the province to make any mask regulations implemented through public health guidance,” Mayor Charlie Clark said in an interview with 650 CKOM on Tuesday.

“Now that we are seeing a higher caseload than ever in the province, I’m hearing more and more interest in the community about addressing this.”

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Clark stressed the City wants to avoid this becoming a politicized issue, saying the reason wearing a mask is encouraged is because it keeps people safe.

“If we have to wear masks to make a choice to avoid shutting down businesses and successfully open schools, it will be a trade-off worth making,” he said.

Premier Scott Moe said in a press conference on Monday the province may make masks mandatory in the future. He said it would either be on a regional basis or province-wide.

“We are in one of the best places in the world to be facing this crisis,” Clark said.

“It will be discussed more in the first few weeks of August, if things move more quickly, we will call a special council meeting.”

Cynthia Carr, principal consultant epidemiologist for EPI Research in Manitoba spoke on Gormley about the need for more strict communication involving mask policies.

“It’s clearly still circulating in our population, just another reason to keep working together. Even if you don’t have symptoms you can still spread it,” Carr said. “People have been confused. We need consistency of communication.”

“Even with a vaccine, your immune system has to be at optimal capacity to use that vaccine to fight against the virus. It’s important to remain vigilant.”