Canadian Press

By Canadian Press

'added layer of protection'

Top doctor: Masks now recommended in public when physical distancing isn’t possible

May 20, 2020 | 4:59 PM

OTTAWA — Canada’s public health experts are now fully recommending Canadians wear non-medical face masks in public when they aren’t sure they will be able to keep their distance from others.

Dr. Theresa Tam, the chief public health officer for Canada, said Wednesday the recommendation comes as stay-at-home orders are lifting in different provinces and more people are going outside, riding public transit, or visiting stores.

“This will help us reopen and add another layer to how you go out safely,” Tam said Wednesday in her daily briefing to Canadians on the COVID-19 pandemic.

She stressed that a face mask is not to replace other measures like physical distancing, handwashing and staying out of public places when you can. And she said people should see it as a way to protect other people, noting when two people are both wearing masks, they are each protecting the other.

“It is an added layer of protection,” she said.

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The advice is slightly stronger than the suggestions over the last couple of weeks that people should consider wearing a face mask in public and comes with a national consensus of all federal and provincial chief medical officers of health.

It is a complete turnaround from her advice seven weeks ago that people who are not sick should not be wearing a face mask at all. Canadian officials were reluctant to suggest face masks early in the virus outbreak for a number of reasons, including the need to ensure medical-grade masks were restricted for use by front-line health workers. There were also fears that wearing masks would prompt people to touch their faces more often and stay apart from others less often.