No Virus in Kahnawake in a Month as Masks Now Mandatory
Written by Paul Graif on 20 July 2020
A further step at keeping COVID-19 at bay in Kahnawake, the wearing of masks in all indoor public spaces is mandatory as of this (Monday) morning. It applies for: retail business, the bank, the post office,
office space where services are offered directly to the public, a common area that is open to the public (office lobbies and entrances and elevators), places of worship, rental venue used to host events, such as conferences, places where sports or recreational activities are practiced, restaurants (upon arrival, for use of washroom and departure; not required while sitting at table and eating). For ages two to 12 it is not mandatory but still strongly recommended.
Lloyd Phillips is the Commissioner of Public Safety says that while it is a new directive, it is a matter of cooperation to make sure people follow it. “There’s several levels of enforcement and also compliance and cooperation,” Phillips said. “Obviously we’re looking for cooperation first and foremost by individuals, bu business owners, by people who are in charge of various organizations or large establishments. We are looking for them to cooperate. So far it’s been excellent. We made the official announcement on Thursday that it (Mandatory masks) was coming. By the end of the day on Thursday many businesses began making masks mandatory on Thursday.”
Meanwhile Quebec saw its largest single day increase in cases in more than 5 weeks Saturday into Sunday with 166. One of the hot spots of late has been the Monteregie – with 52 new cases.
Lisa Westaway is the Executive Director of the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre, she says there have been no new cases in about a month now in Kahnawake. “We still don’t have any other positive cases,” Westaway said. “We did have an increase in testing last week and phone calls as a result of what we see happening around us. Nothing compared to the 600 a day tests that they’re doing in the Monteregie, but definitely an increase for us. But we’ve been okay.We don;t have any more positive cases for the time being.”
