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3 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,July 23,2020 theifp.ca FULL-SERVICE RETIREMENT HOME 905-877-1800 222 Mountainview Road North, Georgetown www.mountainviewresidence.com Seniors enjoy an independent lifestyle with comfortable accommodations, personal care and other supportive services. Retirement living can be the best of times when you live in an atmosphere of comfort and family caring. Mountainview Residence Of Georgetown 232 Guelph St.Georgetown 907-877-0771 baoinstitute.com OUR DOORS WILL OPEN SOON, so we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks once more for your continued support during these challenging times.We are clean, organized & safe - We just wait on the official go-ahead.We look forward to seeing you again! Believe in yourself Achieve your goals Overcome all obstacles Thank You HaltonHills Regional council has passed a bylaw making masks mandatory across Halton in indoor public spaces starting July 22, with some exceptions. But before unanimously approving the measure, councillors first heard from several local resi- dents, including two doc- tors who weighed in on the matter with very different opinions. Georgetown phy- sician and past-president of the Ontario Medical As- sociation Dr. Nadia Alam spoke strongly in favour of mandatory masking, while Oakville doctor and infec- tious disease specialist Dr. Thomas Warren contended that it's not a necessary measure. "People worry that masks aren't safe. Howev- er, decades of using masks show that they are exceed- ingly safe for everyone, from children to those with respiratory diseases," said Alam, noting that she has asthma, but wore a mask for 18 hours the day before at the hospital. "The worst people may experience is a dry throat from breathing through their mouths as they learn how to become used to wearing a mask. It takes some training. But my sev- en-year-old can do it, my 79 year old non-medical fa- ther can do it -- so can ev- eryone else." She said some studies have shown that cloth masks can stop 50 to 90 per cent of respiratory drop- lets, depending on the con- struction and filtration of the mask. "Even a paper towel can increase the filtration ca- pacity of a cloth mask," she added, noting that such masks should be washed daily in hot water, and peo- ple should always wash or sanitize their hands after touching a used mask. But masks and face cov- erings aren't the only solu- tion when it comes to stop- ping the spread of CO- VID-19, said Alam. "Masks are not a cure- all -- they have to be part of a comprehensive strategy of testing and tracing and source control of the infec- tion," she said. "We have to use a multiplicity of mea- sures to keep everyone safe." Warren told council that the World Health Organi- zation is only recommend- ing masks be worn in areas of widespread COVID-19 transmission where there's limited or no capacity for other containment mea- sures, such as physical dis- tancing, contact tracing, testing and isolation and care for suspected and con- firmed cases. "That is not the case in Halton Region," he said. "Rates of infection and transmission in Halton Re- gion are very low, and we do have the capacity to im- plement other contain- ment measures." He asserted that there are "significant down- sides" for the community at large when it comes to wearing masks. "The general public does not know how to use PPE appropriately, includ- ing masks," he said. "Masks can increase face touching and increase rates of infection." Warren added that masks can impair commu- nication, identification, hy- dration and nutrition, and also give people a false sense of security. "In the context of very low rates of COVID-19 infec- tion and transmission in Halton Region, and other measures being implement- ed here, it is questionable what benefit, if any, will be achieved with mandatory masking," he said. Warren wasn't alone in his opposition to the bylaw, with four other Halton res- idents who spoke during the meeting urging coun- cillors to turn the regula- tion down. One other citi- zen, aside from Alam, voiced her opinion in fa- vour of universal masks. The Halton-wide tempo- rary bylaw requires every- one aged five and up to wear a non-medical mask or face covering in en- closed public spaces. It comes into effect on July 22 and will expire on Novem- ber 30, with the option for regional council to extend this date. There are several ex- emptions to the rule, in- cluding for people with un- derlying health conditions that inhibit their ability to wear a mask. The region-wide regula- tion will co-exist with the local mask bylaws that have already been passed in Burlington (effective Ju- ly 20) and Halton Hills (ef- fective July 16). NEWS DOCTORS WEIGH IN WITH DUELLING OPINIONS ON MANDATORY MASKS MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@metro- land.com Mask wearing has been a hotly debated topic across Halton. Graham Paine/Torstar