Metro Vancouver mayor suggests $10K fines for littering of gloves and protective equipment
No, littering disposable latex gloves and other protective equipment that may be contaminated with COVID-19 should not be a thing.
But this is increasingly a sight in and around grocery stores across the region, particularly parking lots and sidewalks.
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Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart is urging against this behaviour, after seeing it for himself in his community. A visibly growing number of people are now wearing these gloves to protect their hands from goods and surfaces at grocery stores, where COVID-19 could linger from respiratory droplets.
“Whatever you’re using, don’t just leave it there, don’t throw it into the ground, and don’t leave it in the shopping cart. It has to go into the garbage,” he said on Tuesday in a video posted onto his Facebook page.
“If you think something is contaminated, leaving it for others is about the most selfish thing you can possibly do… this is not the way to do things.”
In an earlier post, he suggested a $10,000 fine could help address the irresponsible practice of discarding used gloves and masks.
“We can’t look out only for ourselves, we need to all be in this together,” he wrote.
Both medically-suitable latex gloves and alcohol-based hand sanitizer, accompanied with the practice of not touching your head, can be used to prevent infection.
As well, health officials recommend frequent thorough hand washing with soap for at least 20 seconds.
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