Some communities across Canada have started making non-medical face masks mandatory on public transit — or even in businesses or indoor spaces to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Some doctors and epidemiologists are calling for such laws to be more widespread. But others warn about the potential negative impacts and say the scientific evidence isn’t strong enough to warrant such heavy-handed measures. Here’s a closer look at the issue.
What are current public health recommendations around masks for healthy people in public?
The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends wearing a non-medical mask or face covering in public places, especially crowded ones, when physical distancing — keeping a distance of two metres from other people — isn’t possible to do consistently. Such places include stores, shopping areas and public transportation.
The idea is that masks can reduce the spread of respiratory droplets you produce when breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing. The recommendation was put in place due to growing evidence that people can transmit COVID-19 through such droplets before showing symptoms.
Of course, people with symptoms should stay home and not be in public places.
A woman shops at liquor section of the KaDeWe department store in Berlin. Germany made face masks mandatory in public places at the end of April. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Why do some advocates think voluntary recommendations aren’t good enough?
All indoors spaces outside the home such as schools, libraries, community centres, stores and restaurants.
Crowds, both indoors and outdoors, including protests and crowded parks or trails.
Transit.
The letter noted that despite recommendations, a recent poll showed less than half of Canadians are wearing masks when they go out in public. It cited computer simulation studies that showed more than 70 per cent of the population needs to wear masks in public to significantly reduce transmission.
It added that the widespread adoption of other public health measures, such as seat belts and bike helmets, have required laws.
Dr. Amy Tan, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Calgary and a member of the group, said the goal is to make wearing a mask a universal expectation — “the mindset of ‘no mask, no boarding’ [on transit] or at a store, ‘No mask, no service’ — similar to ‘no shirt, no service.'”
Some businesses, such as the Longo’s grocery store chain, have already implemented policies barring customers without masks.
Tan said laws help increase mask use by giving businesses and transit “cover to say, ‘We need to do this.'”
The masks being recommended for the public are non-medical masks, to save medical masks for health-care workers. (Francois Vigneault/Radio Canada)
How good is the evidence that mandatory mask laws reduce transmission?
A recent study by a German non-profit economic think-tank compared regions in Germany that implemented mandatory mask laws at different times (before the entire country made masks mandatory in stores and transit on April 27). The study, which was published on the group’s website but not in a peer-reviewed journal, suggested mask laws could reduce the daily growth rate of reported infections by 40 per cent.
Advocates of universal mask wearing note that countries with widespread or mandated mask usage such as South Korea, Taiwan, China and Czech Republic, have seen reduced cases and fatalities, although that may be due to other factors.
Watch | Are you making these face mask mistakes?
A face mask is meant to limit the spread of COVID-19. But if it slips below your nose, hovers around your chin, or you touch the outside with your hands, medical experts say that might be riskier than not wearing one at all. 3:55
Most research on masks so far has involved medical settings or households with a person known to be infected, said Dr. Mark Loeb, a McMaster University professor who studies infectious diseases and recently reviewed the evidence on masks and the spread of respiratory illnesses.
When it comes to mask wearing in the wider community, most studies published in scientific journals don’t show a clear impact so far, possibly due to factors like study size, he said.
He added that the Public Health Agency of Canada’s advice on masks is pragmatic and “a wise thing to do.” But he questioned whether the evidence on universal mask wearing is strong enough to make it mandatory in all public places, although he thinks mandating it on transit may be reasonable.
Tan said we don’t have the “luxury of time” to wait for that kind of evidence. “During a pandemic, you need to be looking at the emerging evidence and look at other levels of evidence to say there is more than enough science behind it.”
Where in Canada are masks mandatory so far?
Most mandatory mask regulations in Canada so far concern transportation situations where people may have trouble physically distancing.
Many transit agencies in Ontario have announced that masks will be mandatory on buses, streetcars and trains, including Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton and Guelph.
In addition, at least two municipalities are implementing mandatory mask laws:
Côte Saint-Luc, Que., a Montreal suburb that had hundreds of confirmed COVID-19 cases and dozens of deaths by the beginning of June, is making face masks mandatory in indoor public spaces starting July 1.
Most regulations include exceptions for children under two years old and people who can’t wear a mask because of breathing difficulties or another medical condition or disability.
A rider wears a mask as they wait for an OC Transpo bus in Ottawa June 15, 2020, the first day wearing one was mandatory on the capital’s public transit service. (Jean Delisle/CBC)
How are mask laws being enforced?
In Côte Saint-Luc, Que, those who don’t follow the bylaw risk fines of up to $500.
Most other authorities, such as the Ottawa and Toronto transit authorities, say they plan to focus more on education than penalties.
That said, both Côte Saint-Luc and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph are asking businesses to bar people without masks from entering.
Cara Zwibel, director of the fundamental freedoms program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, is concerned about that: ” I don’t know if we want our bus drivers and our grocery cashiers to be interrogating people about their health status to try and decide who can get an exemption and who can’t.”
Zwibel said she thinks mask rules put people like transit drivers in “a really difficult position” especially given the confusing language around enforcement in places like Toronto transit.
“If you announce a policy that something is mandatory, it’s a bit odd in the same breath to say that you’re not going to enforce that… I think that kind of announcement confuses people a lot and it’s not really helpful.”
Zwibel is also concerned about people with disabilities such as hearing impairments who need to see people’s faces to read their lips or people on the autism spectrum who may have trouble with masks.
Kate Mulligan, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto who studies health policy and equity, shares those concerns. She added that people with breathing difficulties such as asthma may have trouble with masks, and certain groups, such as Black and Indigenous men, may face discrimination when wearing a mask. “They may be perceived as a safety risk and that could create a safety risk to themselves.”
She said exceptions to mandatory mask policies are needed for that reason. “And I think it takes a lot of capacity to do that kind of enforcement.”
The lack of enforcement capacity has been cited by officials in Quebec and Ontario as a reason why they’re reluctant to make masks mandatory.
STM workers handed out masks at Metro stations in Laval and Montreal in May. There, masks on transit are recommended but not mandatory.
Are there other concerns about mandatory mask laws?
Like Loeb, Zwibel questions whether there’s enough scientific evidence yet to support mandatory mask laws covering a wide range of public places.
She added that there are lots of indoors spaces where physical distancing is possible. “So I think we’re sort of a long way from seeing a really good justification.”
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, said if masks are mandated, they need to be provided for free so people aren’t barred from businesses or transit for not having access. “Many people might not have the means to buy a mask or may not have the means to make one,” he told CBC News Network Tuesday.
Watch| Masks and lifting COVID-19 restrictions:
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch weighs in on mandatory masks and Ontario’s reopening plan. 1:29
Tan acknowledged that medical and N95 masks need to be reserved for health-care workers and if non-medical masks are made mandatory, vulnerable people need to be given access. She noted that other countries with mandatory mask laws have provided masks to their populations. Some transit services such as Toronto’s are giving masks out to riders.
Are more jurisdictions likely to make masks mandatory in the future?
Mulligan, who sits on the Toronto Board of Health but isn’t part of any group advocating for masks, said she’s been asking about potential mandatory mask policies. So far she’s been told by officials that the evidence doesn’t yet support broader mask laws.
“I expect that to change,” she said. “Given that we’re seeing so much of the city and the province and the country opening up now, I think that we really have no choice but to step up the wearing of masks … because we do want to reduce the risk.”
She thinks governments should have been discussing mask policies as part of their strategy for reopening the economy. She said they need to figure out what policies on masks and other ways to reduce transmission have the greatest benefits versus risks.
If there is a future wave of COVID-19, she expects governments to rely more broadly on masking because the economic impact of the main strategy so far — lockdowns — is so severe.
In the meantime, she suggests people follow public health recommendations to wear masks voluntarily where physical distancing is difficult.
“We do know about the fact that masks reduce the risk to others,” she added. “And so therefore, we have a social responsibility to wear them when we can.”
VANCOUVER – Jesse Marsch issued Canada’s men’s soccer squad a challenge — get physical.
The edict came after the Canadians surprised many at this summer’s Copa America tournament, making it through to the semifinals. As his players departed for their professional clubs, the head coach wanted them thinking about continued growth.
“I challenged them to be more physically present in the matches that they played in,” Marsch said. “I’ve tried to encourage all the players to sprint more, to win more duels, to win more balls, to be more dynamic in matches.”
When Canada reconvened for a pair of friendlies last week, the coach saw some players had already heeded his call, including Vancouver Whitecaps product Ali Ahmed.
The 23-year-old midfielder started in both Canada’s 2-1 victory over the United States on Saturday and Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Mexico.
“I’m really happy for him,” Marsch said. “I think he’s still young and still has a lot of room and potential to continue to grow.”
Playing under Marsch — who took over as head coach in May — has been a boon for the young athlete, currently in his second full season with Major League Soccer’s Whitecaps.
“Jesse has a very clear way of playing,” Ahmed said. “And I think the way we’ve been training and the way we’ve been growing as a group, it’s been helpful for me.”
The reward of getting minutes for a national team can spur a player’s growth, including Ahmed, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“Of course that fuels him inside to say ‘Hey, I want to be a better player. I want to get to that stage,'” said Sartini.
Vancouver had six players — including Ahmed — away on international duty during its 0-0 draw against Dallas FC on Saturday. The absences are a good problem to have, Sartini said.
“Because we have players that are close to the national team, we have a lot of players that development is faster, better, bigger than it would have been if they hadn’t been called,” he said.
Born in Toronto, Ahmed came up through the Whitecaps’ academy system and played for Vancouver’s MLS Next Pro side before cementing his spot on the first team in 2023. He put up two goals and two assists across 22 regular-season games, and added another goal and another helper in 19 appearances this year.
Taking the next step will require the five-foot-11, 154-pound Ahmed to push himself physically, Marsch said.
“Tactically, he’s technically gifted,” the coach said. “I’ve told him he’s got to get in the gym more.
“There’s a lot of these little things where too many guys, they still look like kids and we need to help them look like men and play like men. And that’s what the high standards of the game are about.”
Marsch has quickly adjusted to recalibrating standards in his short time with Team Canada. Since taking over the squad in May, the coach said he’s learned the players are smarter and more capable than he originally thought, which forces the coach to constantly recalibrate his standards.
“That’s my job right now, to keep raising the level of the demands,” he said.
The way 40th-ranked Canada is viewed on the international stage is evolving, too.
“I think we’re changing the perception on the way we’re playing now,” he said. “I think beating the U.S. — it would have been nice to beat Mexico as well — the way we did, the way that we performed at Copa, I think teams are starting to look at us differently.
“Right now, I think we’re focused on ourselves. We’re definitely trying to be the best in CONCACAF and we have higher goals as well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.
WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.
In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.
“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.
But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.
“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.
Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”
One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.
The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.
Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.
“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”
Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”
Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.
“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.
Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.
Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.
“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.
WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – Canada’s top male tennis players have defeated Finland 3-0 in the group stage of the Davis Cup Final.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (2), 6-2 in Tuesday’s first singles match. Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime then dispatched Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-3 in the second singles match.
With the tie already won thanks to the two singles victories, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime teamed up to best Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 7-5 in doubles play.
There was an element of revenge after Canada lost to Finland in last year’s quarterfinals.
“Everybody’s in good spirits, so it’s very good,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Any motivation is good, but I think it’s a different year, a different time, and (last year’s loss) was behind us. This year we have a full team and everybody’s playing better than last year. Everybody’s improved.”
It’s the second consecutive group-stage tie Canada has won after beating Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday. Canada, the lone seeded team in Group D, will face host Great Britain on Sunday.
Four groups of teams are playing in four cities this week to qualify for the eight-team Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November. The top two countries in each four-team group advance.
Since Canada’s undefeated after two opponents in the group stage, it is set to advance to the Davis Cup Finals.
“Couldn’t ask for more today, super proud of the team,” said captain Frank Dancevic. “Great team spirit, amazing bench team spirit, and fans pushing us through the day.”
It is Canada’s fifth consecutive appearance in the Davis Cup Finals, having won its only title in 2022. The Canadians defeated South Korea 3-1 in February’s Davis Cup qualifiers in Montreal to reach the group stage of the finals.
— With files from The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
