Transit agencies ramp up messaging for transit mask mandate which lasts until April 27.
Ontarians could again show their faces in stores, restaurants and classrooms on Monday as the province lifted COVID-19 mask mandates in most settings.
But one exemption to the rule change is public transit, where riders can’t officially ditch their masks for another five weeks.
The province says keeping the mask requirement on transit will protect the health of vulnerable riders, but with pandemic-weary residents being told it’s safe to unmask almost everywhere else, some experts are worried passengers will soon stop following the rules.
“I’m concerned that there will be confusion, but also people may not be as willing to continue with the masking in transit when they feel that it’s being lifted elsewhere,” said Dr. Susy Hota, medical director of infection prevention and control at the University Health Network.
She said the province’s decision to lift mask mandates elsewhere could make transit users unsure about where face coverings are required, or send the wrong message that COVID-19 is no longer a threat anywhere.
She called for clear public messaging about why masks are still necessary in potentially high risk settings like the subway system. “Nobody said the pandemic is over,” she said.
The provincial government announced March 9 it was lifting mask requirements in most places. The exceptions are transit and places like long-term-care homes, shelters and jails, where masks will be mandated until at least April 27, when Ontario plans to end all remaining pandemic precautions.
W.D. Lighthall, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, explained that masks are still needed on transit because it is “a high-traffic, high density” environment. And unlike restaurants or other potentially crowded public places where people have the discretion whether or not to attend, transit is an essential service that many people have no choice but to rely on, “including many of those most vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID-19.”
The potential for inconsistencies under the new provincial masking policies was on display Monday at Union Station, the downtown transportation hub that also houses retail stores and restaurants.
According to a news release from the city of Toronto, which owns most of the station, while masks are required on transit vehicles and platforms at Union, they are not required at “non-transit related areas” in the building.
The Star observed that while most of the dozens of people who travelled through Union’s transit-related York GO Transit concourse were wearing masks, as many as one in five were not. Meanwhile, there was no masking requirement for the dozens of people dining in the food court one level below and visible from the concourse.
Anne Marie Aikins, a spokesperson for Metrolinx, the provincial agency that operates GO and UP Express service out of Union, acknowledged some visitors “may get a little confused.”
She said that over the course of the pandemic 90 to 95 per cent of GO and UP customers have complied with the mask mandate, but the agency will be watching closely to see whether that declines this week.
Aikins said Metrolinx has ramped up its communications about the ongoing mask requirement using on-board and in-station announcements, signage and digital communications on social media and elsewhere. Agency staff will also have masks available for customers who didn’t bring their own.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said that the city-owned transit agency has also increased its messaging about the continued need to wear masks and is giving out face coverings to those who need them.
But the TTC has no plans to step up enforcement of its mask rule. He said the agency will continue to take an education-first approach, which it has deemed necessary because some customers have legitimate medical exemptions and issuing fines could unfairly harm riders with fixed incomes.
Green said the strategy has worked so far, and at least 95 per cent of riders wear masks.
“We know that throughout the pandemic, TTC customers have shown a clear willingness to do the right thing … even without the heavy hand of strict enforcement or tickets,” he said.
Some TTC riders reported being pleasantly surprised to see that most passengers were still wearing masks on Monday.
Amanjeev Sethi, a software engineer who lives downtown, is nervous about catching COVID-19 on transit because he has a baby at home who can’t be vaccinated.
But on his trip to an appointment on the 501 Queen route Monday morning, he didn’t see anyone not wearing a mask.
“I was delighted and relieved,” he said. “Others wearing masks gives me confidence.”
Article From: The Star
Author: Ben Spurr
