Masks are mandatory in condo and apartment buildings in the city of Toronto, declared Toronto City Council.
As and when the Toronto city of Ontario is moving to the phase 3 of reopening plan on July 31, Mayor John Tory on Wednesday announced that face coverings are mandatory inside common condo and building areas.
The Toronto city is moving to stage 3 of the province reopening plan from this Friday.
Toronto Mayor John has said that he took this decision out of consideration for people. Common areas in buildings and condos are the most visited places by the people which have the higher probability of infecting a person with coronavirus. Face masks protect the people from catching the virus even if they go to these common places.
Toronto city council voted in favor of Mayor John and asked building owners and operators to have a mandatory masking policy for enclosed areas in apartments like lobbies, elevators and laundry rooms.
People who are suffering with breathing issues and children below two years in the apartment communities are exempted from this rule.
This by law comes into effect from August 5, Wednesday, as announced by the medical officer of health in the city.
Toronto has been given permission to move to stage 3 of reopening this Friday and Tory’s remarks on the face coverings come at a press conference on the same day.
This also means that people can do all the things like dining at a restaurant, go to salon for services as a part of phase 3 reopening.
Mayor Tory had also said in the press conference that they have decided to move to phase 3 reopening of the city because they have made progress in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Yet he stresses that COVID-19 is here to stay and doesn’t get a summer vacation like us. He urged people to be more careful while moving out.
He also said that there are 13 new confirmed positive coronavirus cases in the city on Wednesday. The current case count in Toronto city alone stands at 15,344 and about 13,000 people have recovered from the virus.
Play grounds and play areas are also all set to open from Friday and new sign boards with updated public health advice will be posted in the play areas in the coming days.
The Mayor also encouraged people to bring hand sanitizers and wipes and wash hands frequently with soap and water to stay safe.
He also requested people to stay at home if they feel like they are not well.
He urged people to help avoid getting a second wave of coronavirus in the city and said that no one wants to go backwards in this battle.
Gathering limits in stage 3 are also set which indicates 100 people would be allowed outdoors and 50 people can gather indoors but with proper protection in place.
By Gayatri Yellayi
