Mayoral candidate Michael Fougere renews call to wear masks on buses after positive case on transit
Regina region has 30 known positive cases of coronavirus
Regina's mayor is urging people to wear masks on buses, after a person who had COVID-19 rode a city bus earlier this month without a mask.
Someone who tested positive for COVID-19 rode Regina Transit when they were likely infectious on several days between Sept. 7 and Sept. 14, the Saskatchewan Health Authority previously reported.
"We have between 85 and 100 per cent [mask] compliance on transit, but that's not good enough," Michael Fougere said at a press conference Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the Regina region had 30 known active COVID-19 cases.
Fougere says the city provides masks for bus riders at three locations now: the Golden Mile shopping centre, the Southland Mall and the Transit Information Centre downtown.
He said the city wants to expand to have system-wide distribution. The details and timeline of that are mostly unknown, but Fougere said he wants that done as soon as possible.
As for making masks mandatory on transit, Fougere — who is running for re-election in the Nov. 9 municipal election — said it's something he and council could discuss in the future.
Kim Onrait, the City of Regina's executive director of citizen services, said it's now part of bus drivers' jobs to educate people on mask wearing while taking transit.
"The operators are there to educate people getting on without a mask. We want to approach this through an education process, rather than [being] heavy-handed," Onrait said.