Brampton Just Made It Mandatory To Wear Face Masks On Transit Starting In July
If you haven't already, you might want to get your hands on a mask soon. New rules will come into effect starting in July implementing mandatory masks on Brampton transit. Mayor Patrick Brown made the announcement during a conference on June 3.
Brown, alongside Councillor Michael Palleschi, Chief Nishan Duraiappah and Dr. Lawrence Loh, the Interim Medical Officer of Health in the Peel Region, made the announcement on Wednesday, according to inbrampton.
There, the mayor spoke on the severity of the virus and emphasized the need to continue practicing social distancing, hence the push for wearing masks on transit.
He confirmed in a tweet that masks will be made compulsory for transit riders. According to inbrampton, this will be effective as of July 2.
“You may not appreciate the severity of this virus, but you’re spreading it in our community, you are putting loved ones, parents and grandparents at risk and this reckless behaviour must stop,” said Brown at the meeting.
However, he did acknowledge that there will be some cases in which people genuinely can't wear a mask, per Global News.
“Many of you may have read that last week the City of Ottawa’s transit department made wearing masks mandatory on public transit and we are following that step,” he added.
Brown was alluding to an announcement made on May 26 which stated that OC Transpo riders in the capital city will be required to wear face masks on all of their trips, starting on June 15.
“The health and safety of our passengers and staff members are our top priority,” he added, per Global News.
Brown also noted in the meeting he has been alarmed by the comparatively high number of infections in young people in the city, according to 680 News.
Brampton has been a hot spot for COVID-19 in Ontario and was identified as such by Ontario Premier Doug Ford last week, writes the Brampton Guardian.
In response to its many cases, Peel Region had refused to reopen their outdoor areas like parks and recreation centres despite the province pushing ahead.
In fact, Peel's doctors and officials warned recently the provincial reopening plan is happening way too quickly due to their high case rate.
Last week, the Region released a new breakdown of its cases, following Toronto's lead.
Meanwhile, the 6ix is still going no further than recommending that people wear masks on transit and in public in general.