Ottawa General public Well being asks corporations to encourage mask use by personnel in break rooms, kitchens

OTTAWA —
Ottawa Public Well being is urging all enterprises to boost carrying encounter masks by workers in parts not covered by Ottawa’s necessary encounter mask bylaw, including break rooms and modifying parts.

And corporations are remaining inspired to do “lively screening” of all employees during the pandemic to help limit the distribute of novel coronavirus.

Associate Professional medical Officer of Wellness Brent Moloughney claims the well being device is nevertheless viewing situations of COVID-19 where staff are heading to get the job done whilst symptomatic.

“For this motive, OPH strongly encourages all enterprises to do active screening of workers to make guaranteed no 1 is going to function when they are sick or feeling unwell,” explained Dr. Moloughney in a assertion released on Friday afternoon.

Ottawa Public Health has a wellness-screening questionnaire out there on its internet site.

“Reminder, Ottawa General public Overall health does not propose asymptomatic staff members be tested in advance of starting perform considering that the final results reflect just a snapshot in time and can be falsely reassuring,” mentioned Dr. Moloughney.

Council passed a bylaw in July building confront masks obligatory in all indoor general public areas. Ottawa’s required facial area mask bylaw features an exemption that allows workers doing work in non-public locations or at the rear of a physical barrier to go maskless though working in general public structures.

Dr. Moloughney claims general public well being encourages corporations to “promote mask use in parts not covered by the bylaw together with non-public common spots this kind of as break rooms, kitchens, modifying spots, etc. to assist even more avoid COVID-19 transmission amid team.”

Considering that the initial circumstance of COVID-19 on March 11, there have been 2,623 laboratory-confirmed instances of COVID-19 in Ottawa, such as 264 fatalities.

A total of 2,204 people have recovered soon after tests favourable for novel coronavirus.