Are there other concerns about mandatory mask laws?
Like Loeb, Zwibel questions whether there’s enough scientific evidence yet to support mandatory mask laws covering a wide range of public places.
She said there are a lot of indoor spaces where physical distancing is possible. “So, I think we’re sort of a long way from seeing a really good justification.”
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, said if masks are mandated, they need to be provided for free so people aren’t barred from businesses or transit for not having access.
“Many people might not have the means to buy a mask or may not have the means to make one,” he told CBC News Network Tuesday.
Tan acknowledged that medical and N95 masks need to be reserved for health-care workers and if non-medical masks are made mandatory, vulnerable people need to be given access. She said other countries with mandatory mask laws have provided masks to their populations. Some transit services such as Toronto’s are giving masks out to riders.
