While top doctors in the city, state and country have advised people to wear masks, shop owner Gareth Davies is once again asking customers to cover up while browsing. “We are responding to the call of the hospitals, especially CHEO, the children’s hospital, which is over capacity,” he said Wednesday. “It’s a no-brainer for us as a business to do what we can.” President and CEO Alex Munter said the rise in respiratory illnesses and drug shortages have left pediatric hospitals scrambling to meet demand. He urged the community to respond in secret. Similarly, calls for the return of masks to schools are growing, with an upcoming proposal to bring masks back to schools within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
“We just have to take it on”
Some businesses feel they are in a difficult position: implement a mask policy and face pushback, or ignore the impassioned pleas of those who say a return to masks is overdue.
Davis wants the province or local health authority to require masks inside, but believes the burden has been shifted to individuals.
“We realize that we just have to take it upon ourselves to have that requirement here,” he said.
Davis says reinstating the mask requirement at his store was “misguided” after pleas from the local children’s hospital. (Simon Lasalle/Radio-Canada)
In an emailed statement Thursday afternoon, the city’s medical examiner told CBC News Ottawa Public Health (OPH) supports any business that implements such a policy.
“While the province is in the best position to implement a mask mandate, given the challenge across the province and the benefits of a consistent approach, OPH will continue to monitor the situation in Ottawa and evaluate all possible local options,” he said. Dr. Vera Et.
Davis asked shoppers to wear masks starting Monday, with his employees already wearing them before the decision. So far, customers have been receptive, he said.
Still, Davies understands the struggles of other businesses that may be considering their own mask requirements — worried about isolating some customers, heated confrontations at their front doors, or just a general reluctance to return to something many hoped we’d overcome.
“It opens you up to some pushback, but you’re doing it for the right reasons,” he said. “So we expect probably a few more businesses to establish a requirement.”
Also hide a business decision
Some stores, like Little Jo Berry’s Bakery, have maintained the requirements throughout the pandemic, partly as a business decision. “It doesn’t make sense to have to close every time someone is sick,” owner Jo Masterson said. They say their customers, especially those who are immunocompromised, are largely grateful for the policy. However, no business wants to have to go through that again. “While I’m relieved to see people sheltering in place more, I’m also very saddened, as a business person, by what I’ve had to go through, what my neighbors have had to go through,” they said. “You [go] from restaurants, it is empty inside. You know, that hurts.” One business contacted by CBC News declined to identify itself for an interview about their mask policy, worried the attention would make their store a target. Davis said it’s unfortunate that masks have become politicized, but he believes this is a short-term measure until the wave of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other diseases subsides. Until then, he is prepared to shoulder whatever consequences arise. “Not everyone may want to come to your business, and that’s okay.”
