Mayor Valérie Plante and Montreal’s Public Health Director, Mylène Drouin, are urging citizens to wear face masks as the province attempts to reopen schools and businesses.
Mask wearing won’t be mandatory, whether homemade or purchased, and you won’t be fined or stopped by city officials for not wearing one, said Plante.
Given that Montreal has been hit hard by the virus, Plante and Drouin say that since the city is so densely populated, it might be difficult to stay two metres away from others at all times.
Plante says it’s safer for citizens to cover their faces if they can’t keep two metres away, citing packed buses and metros as examples.
- See also:
“A face covering will become the new social norm,” Drouin said on Tuesday. Plante said the city is ordering 50,000 reusable masks that will be distributed to community centres and vulnerable citizens throughout the island.
Avec la reprise graduelle, prenons l’habitude de porter le couvre-visage dans les lieux publics lorsque le respect des 2m n’est pas possible. Pour plus de détails sur comment porter et confectionner un couvre-visage 👇https://t.co/zqOEEDTrjT #cemtl #polmtl pic.twitter.com/dE5GMhWj7w
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) April 29, 2020
Plante stressed that wearing masks won’t substitute physical distancing, washing hands, using sanitizer, or coughing into your elbow. She said it’s an added measure to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading while schools and businesses across the province reopen.
The city has shared an online publication that gives tips on how to make your own homemade mask and tips.