Masks now required in St. Catharines apartments and condos

St. Catharines has extended its mandatory mask bylaw to include common spaces such as residential apartment buildings, condominiums and hotels.

In a special council meeting on Tuesday night, councillors voted unanimously to require masks in more indoor settings including lobbies, elevators, meeting rooms, restrooms, laundry rooms, gyms, and kitchens or other common use facilities.

Building managers and operators will now have to communicate the city’s bylaw, which states masks are required wherever physical distancing is difficult to maintain.

Just before the vote, Coun. Lori Littleton addressed the issue of communication and education regarding residents who are not able to wear masks due to health issues.

Littleton suggested that bylaw officers or someone from staff reach out to businesses and other operators to educate managers on how to deal with exemptions after two delegates with health issues complained during the council meeting of being discriminated against.

“I know I’ve heard of people being followed around until they wear a mask,” Littleton said.

Mayor Walter Sendzik said he would be taking that issue to Niagara Region council for discussion.

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The new bylaw goes into effect immediately.

People with medical conditions as well as children under the age of 10 and those unable to apply or remove a mask were exempt from wearing one when St. Catharines city council passed its initial temporary mask bylaw in mid-July.

At the time, further exceptions were daycares, schools, hospitals as well as provincial and federal government buildings, since the city had no jurisdiction in those facilities to enforce a mask policy.

Niagara Region reports one new COVID-19 case

Niagara public health reported one COVID-19 case on Tuesday, bringing the region’s total number of cases to 1,214 since the pandemic began.

There are currently 99 active cases as of Oct. 13.

The region has five outbreaks connected with the coronavirus, including four retirement homes (Pioneer Elder Care in St. Catharines; Shalom Gardens in Grimsby; The Meadows of Dorchester; and Lundy Manor in Niagara Falls) and one nursing home (Millennium Trail Manor in Niagara Falls).

Since the pandemic was declared, 42.2 per cent (512) of the region’s 1,214 cases have occurred in people under the age of 39.