• 2020.12.11
  • Mask or no mask? That is the question.
I live in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, and the city is once again (if we ever could have been considered out of it) in a state of emergency due to Covid-19. The province and the city have recently implemented new and stricter regulations regarding closures and masks due to an increase of Covid-19 cases.
Ottawa City has now issued a Temporary Mandatory Mask By-law regulation according to which it is now mandatory to use the mask in indoor places accessible to the public, for example when using public transportation and when visiting shops and shopping centres.
The regulation does not apply to schools, childcare centres or sport centres for children but to most other places.
Overall, it is mandatory to use a mask or any other protection device unless the 2-meter distance between people can be respected.

Protection devices which are allowed are disposable surgical masks, cloth masks (even homemade ones) or even a scarf could be worn over the nose and mouth as it can do the trick and it is accepted.
Wearing a mask or a protection device outdoors is not mandatory but highly recommended in highly crowded places such as markets or busy streets for instance.
According to the newly published regulation the mask must be worn in: public and private offices, supermarkets, public transport (including at bus stops and platforms), on trains and planes, in shops, at church, at the hairdresser, at the barber, inside museums (although most of them were closed here and are now open online only) and libraries, at the cinema and at the theatre (also during the entire show), at the gym (but not during physical activity), at the clubs, bars and restaurants (except when eating or drinking at your table), inside lifts and private condos, inside hotels and obviously at the hospital and at medical centres.
Wearing the mask all day long can be very complicated for those people with a severe disability or pathologies that put a strain on their breathing, for this reason, disabled people are not obliged to wear a protective mask, neither when close to others nor in indoor places. This applies, for example, to those who are in a wheelchair or walking around helped by a walker.
People, of any age, with disabilities or chronic and neurological diseases that do not reconcile with the use of the mask are not obliged to wear it and do not incur the administrative sanctions provided for all others (there are some people called ‘operators’ checking for the compliance and giving tickets to people not complying to the mask regulations ). This is because the mask can increase fatigue and aggravate existing breathing difficulties.
However, disabled people must comply as much as possible with the other Covid-19 prevention measures, such as respecting social distancing and avoid social gatherings.
Also children under the age of five are not required to wear a mask and children under two years of age are actually discouraged to wear one probably for the breathing difficulties they could encounter otherwise.
Starting November 7th all restaurants have now limited hours of operation and they must close at 10 p.m. except if they wish to remain open longer for take-out orders. The sale and service of alcohol is only permitted between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and it is mandatory for the restaurant to get the contact details from the customers who eat on site for tracing purposes in case they have to call them to communicate a positive case of Covid-19.
No more than 4 people can be seated together and no buffet services are allowed anymore.

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  • Patrick Sacco
  • JobENGINEER AT ELLIOT & CO CONSULTING

HELLO! MY NAME IS PATRICK AND I LIVE IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, WHERE I WORK AS A CIVIL ENGINEER AND I’M ALSO AN AMATEUR POET IN MY SPARE TIME. I MOVED TO SCOTLAND ABOUT 9 YEARS AGO FROM ITALY AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. SOME PEOPLE DON’T LIKE THE RAINY WEATHER BUT IT’S THIS TYPE OF WEATHER WHICH ALLOWS THIS REGION TO BE SO LUSH AND GREEN. WHENEVER I HAVE THE CHANCE I TAKE MY CAR TO THE COUNTRYSIDE AND I GO EXPLORE THE MANY LAKES AND VALLEYS AROUND EDINBURGH.

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