[News] Masks mandatory in all Calgary indoor public spaces as of Aug. 1

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't understand how gyms are exempt. Of all the places I've been since covid the gym's are the places that scare me the most. I had to go to a different gym as the one I frequent had way too many 20-30 year olds that were carrying on like things were normal. Several times guys would come up to me (zero social distancing of course) when I'm removing weight from equipment and ask if they could use it to which I would say yes and they would get on the machine before I even had a chance to clean it. It's nuts as they just don't care at all.

That's annoying.
I've been pleasantly impressed with my gym, everyone wipes down everything after using anything.
I feel safer at the gym than I do in stores and other public places

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Which kinda makes this pointless in my mind. I don't think we have actually have cases really breaking out at grocery stores have we? The issue is places where there's not masks being used by anyone at all. If those are going to be the exceptions, then this law doesn't really seem to be doing anything then.

You gonna do this, then no exceptions should be in place.

Originally Posted by Brendone

So stupid question.... is office space is considered a public space?

Can the public come into your office?

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Joborule

You gonna do this, then no exceptions should be in place.

Mandating face coverings in bars and restaurants seems impractical. Better to shut them down... which I support.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Slava

This bylaw is so bizarre. What exactly is the thinking behind “we need to do this to stop the virus” and “we’ll wait a couple weeks”? It’s ludicrous.

And then there are a pile of exemptions, rendering this effectively meaningless?

To me this is a pretty poor effort.

It looks like they are still going to make some amendments before it becomes official. I’m okay with that.

As for the exemptions, are you suggesting they should enforce the bylaw against infants? People who are literally in the act of eating? The exercise one is debateable, but it seems pretty obvious that masks aren’t that compatible with exercise. Masks in malls, stores etc is a good thing IMO, even if those aren’t the highest risk activities.

As for bars and clubs, I don’t think you solve that issue with a mandatory mask bylaw. Perhaps impose reduced capacity, along with greater spacing, but the only way to really stop the spread is to shut them down completely and I don’t see that happening (at least not yet).

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Acey

Mandating face coverings in bars and restaurants seems impractical. Better to shut them down... which I support.

This is exactly what should be happening if we actually want to reduce the number of new daily cases. These and large indoor gatherings are the main drivers right now. If we don't want to clamp down on those, then I don't see any other method being effective.

I understand how impractical it is for those places to have masks on, and we do need to keep the economy going, but if they're going to be open, then that means we have to be fine with decent number of new cases per day as a result. Otherwise we have to sacrifice those industries and the economy until a vaccine or treatment is distributed publicly.

It sucks for those industries that rely on people being indoors. I miss the gym so frickin much still, since mines hasn't opened yet. But I'm understanding in why they're hesitant on doing so, and only want to do it when they feel is best to. Even if it was open now, I would have a bit of hesitation because of the risk still.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by memphusk

Can the public come into your office?

There is limited access to the atrium, but work areas are restricted to clients and employees.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

August 1st is too long, should have been sooner.

Magliocca is my councillor. There is 0 chance I vote for him, what a tool.

He's my councilor too Never voted for him just moved to his area. How is he still a councilor again? I kinda lost track of the story with the gong show that is 2020 but at the beginning of the year, he was found to be stealing money by claiming expensive dinners and hotel rooms with escorts as business meetings that never took place right? But he hasn't been fired and is still around so what happened with that?

[Dion]

Replace American with Canadian in the posted sign.

[Acey]

Alberta showing its true Texas North colours on social media tonight. Going to be quite a bit of pushback on this. Enforcement will be impossible. There will be people getting berated. August 1st will be fun.

[PepsiFree]

I don’t mind the exceptions to this, based solely on the idea that you’re limiting any outbreaks to those areas, and stopping the spread beyond those areas. So someone might pick up the virus at a bar or the gym, but they’re not spreading it unless they (you guessed it) go to the bar or a gym again.

It centralises the risk areas, and if it continues to be a problem (which it might be) then you have people making the choice to go somewhere with a higher risk, and you protect those people who HAVE to go somewhere (like the grocery store or the c-train).

Also, happy to have the three idiots say no and continue to out themselves as idiots. Good luck to Farkas in his mayoral run with the stigma that he’s anti-science and not concerned about the health of people. Magliocca should probably have voted yes, after all, if too many Calgarians die how will he afford drinks and escorts with our tax money? Think of your (lined) pocket book, Joe!

[Johnny Makarov]

Oh god. I just saw Sean Chu's interview. I want to spit on him. on my bike. from the bike lane.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Swarly

He's my councilor too Never voted for him just moved to his area. How is he still a councilor again? I kinda lost track of the story with the gong show that is 2020 but at the beginning of the year, he was found to be stealing money by claiming expensive dinners and hotel rooms with escorts as business meetings that never took place right? But he hasn't been fired and is still around so what happened with that?

I also live in his area and never voted for him. Basically, he was elected once and now based on name recognition we are probably stuck with him unless he's convicted of an actual crime.

[Fuzz]

Spoiler!

https://twitter.com/user/status/1285701398018109440

It's amusing they call it a "face covering" and the image they use is covering most of the face. Do these people not have eyes? Are they behind the mask? How do they see?

[shermanator]

Stupid early morning question on this. Does my 8 month old daughter need a mask in indoor public spaces? Trying to think of how I can make that work...

[Ryan Coke]

Under 2 is exempted.

[Deviaant]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Stupid early morning question on this. Does my 8 month old daughter need a mask in indoor public spaces? Trying to think of how I can make that work...

If your child is under 2, they are exempt. I think it's has to do with the fact a child would not be able to communicate distress while wearing a mask.

[Weitz]

I sure hope transit mask usage picks up. Probably been under 10% the last few days (didn't ride in today).

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Deviaant

If your child is under 2, they are exempt. I think it's has to do with the fact a child would not be able to communicate distress while wearing a mask.

I thought I initially heard it was supposed to be mandatory for anyone over 12. Good luck to any parents of a child under 5 or 6 to get them to wear and keep a mask on. A mask on a 2 or 3 year old won't last long.

[Burninator]

Does anyone have suggestions for a place to get decent cloth masks or a amazon link for a good one (lots of mixed reviews on there).

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I don’t mind the exceptions to this, based solely on the idea that you’re limiting any outbreaks to those areas, and stopping the spread beyond those areas. So someone might pick up the virus at a bar or the gym, but they’re not spreading it unless they (you guessed it) go to the bar or a gym again.

Not necessarily. People who go to the bar/restaurant/gym may contract it in those spaces and not know they have symptoms for an average of 11 days. In that time, they get groceries, drop the kids off at camp, interact with co-workers, and have a family BBQ. Plus possibly go back to the bar/restaurant/gym.

Even with these new rules it doesn't exactly create a safe environment.

Would you go inside the Ship and Anchor on a weekend night where no one is wearing a mask?