Ottawa's mayor calls for mandatory masks in essential stores, schools and on public transit

Ottawa's mayor is calling on the Ontario government to make masks mandatory once again in essential settings like grocery stores, pharmacies, schools and on public transit.

And Jim Watson says he has asked city staff to see whether the city of Ottawa can implement its own mandatory mask policy for OC Transpo buses and the O-Train once the provincial mandate ends later this month.

"We've got to kill this virus once and for all, and we can't do it if we take away some of the tools that doctors tell us are the most effective tools keeping us safe," Watson said.

This week, medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said there is "more COVID-19 in the community than ever", and she is in discussions with the province about reinstating mask mandates.

Watson tells Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron that he is becoming "more and more worried" about the COVID-19 situation in Ottawa, and some restrictions should be reintroduced.

"I think the province has to really rethink their mask mandates; I think we need to have masks remaining on in essential services, places you have to go to – grocery stores, pharmacies, schools and also on transit," Watson said.

The Ontario government lifted the mandatory mask requirements in most indoor public settings on March 21. Masks are mandatory on public transit, in hospitals and healthcare settings and in retirement homes and long-term care homes until April 27.

The mayor previously said the city of Ottawa does not have the authority to overturn a provincial decision.

Watson says he has asked city staff to see if the city of Ottawa has the authority to keep masks mandatory on public transit since OC Transpo is federally regulated.

"I spoke to Dr. Etches and I think as ridership grows on both the train and the buses we need to insist that people wear their masks because they're going to be in cramped quarters, not great air circulation and the mask is one of the cheapest, most efficient ways of stopping COVID," Watson said.

"The last thing we need is more lockdowns, so I'd rather take some preventive measures now."

The mayor says Etches is looking at "different options" on possible new restrictions to address COVID-19 cases in the capital.

On Thursday, Etches, medical officers of health across Eastern Ontario and chiefs of staff at all hospitals in the Champlain Region called on residents to do four things to protect yourself, your family and the community. The four things are:

• Get vaccinated with all the doses you are eligible for
• Limit your close contacts
• Wear a mask in indoor public spaces
• Stay home if you are sick

MASKS IN SCHOOLS

The union representing elementary teachers in Ottawa is calling for a return of mandatory masks in classrooms, as COVID-19 levels remain high.

"One word I would use is chaotic," Susan Gardner, president of the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said.

"With these latest restrictions being lifted, what we're hearing is that some classes are being closed, many staff are away, very difficult to find staff who are well enough to come in."

Gardner says school boards have been forced to find "creative ways" to cover classes, including using educational assistants.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board says one class had to be cancelled this week due to staffing shortages.  The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board told the Ottawa Citizen that between four and 11 classes a day have been closed to in-person learning since the end of March.

Gardner says she'd like to see the return of mandatory masks in schools.

"I actually don't think that it should have been lifted in the first place, I think it was too soon. Since the lifting of those protections in schools and throughout Ontario, there's been a predictable rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations," Gardner told Newstalk 580 CFRA.

On Thursday, 49 Ottawa schools had at least 20 per cent of students and staff absent.

The chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board says schools are rotating supply teachers and using librarians, principals or retired teachers to supervise.

"There may be another member of the school staff who is supervising a group of students. They may not be teaching but at least it provides safe adult supervision," Lynn Scott said.

Father of four Devon McKee says it's like rolling the dice to see who will be absent from school on any given day.

"We haven't gone through a single week without at least a few kids in all these classes out sick," McKee said.

Scott is hoping the province will take a second look at mandatory masks in schools.

“There is growing concerns about masking,” Scott said.

“I am hopeful that the province is looking at this really carefully and will actually do what is needed to curb the spread here. We don’t want to move into a worse situation than we are now. Right now, we are managing but anything we can do to make it easier to manage would be worth doing."

Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Trustee Mark Fisher added his voice to the calls for masking mandates to return to schools.

"Masking for me is probably the simplest action, the simplest health measure that we can take, in addition to ventilation and just good hand hygiene and what have you and distancing at school. It's just a very simple thing that we could do," Fisher said Friday.

"Would it have completely eliminated the situation that we're in right now? Probably not. But, I think removing the restrictions the way that the province did has certainly allowed the variant, I think, to move faster in our community. I think masking was just a very simple thing we could have continued to do."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Leah Larocque