Visitors to Manitoba hospitals and health centres will be required to wear non-medical masks as of Sept. 1, Health Minister Cameron Friesen announced Aug. 24.
The requirement applies to people visiting patients in the facilities as well as outpatients attending appointments at clinics within hospitals and health care centres. Primary care clinics and other locations are not currently included within the mandatory mask order but anyone seeking medical care is encouraged to wear a non-medical mask.
Visitors to personal care homes have been required to wear masks during indoor visits for more than a month already.
“Wearing masks provides additional protection for people, particularly in indoor spaces where physical distancing is not possible,” said Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin in a press release. “Wearing masks in hospitals and health centres will ensure we are all doing what we can to protect ourselves and others from this virus.”
The mask requirement does not apply to children under two years of age or people with underlying medical conditions that may inhibit their ability to wear a mask.
Visitors and outpatients are expected to provide their own masks. People without masks will be informed of locations where they can be purchased or, in certain circumstances, provided with one by the health care facility.
