Wearing a face mask will have to become a social normal for all public transit users, as the Health Ministry is enforcing this new rule as of July 13. The new rule will apply to anyone over the age of 12 who is taking a bus, commuter train or the Metro. For children younger than that, wearing a mask is strongly recommended by the province, but not obligatory.
It’s still not clear who will enforce this new rule, especially that there will be no fines for breaking it, but people who won’t comply will be denied access to the service. Public transit ridership has plummeted due to the COVID-19, but once things go back to normal, it will be quite challenging to control who’s wearing a mask or not when boarding the metro.
In all cases, this campaign will hopefully encourage more and more people to do the right thing and wear their masks, especially that they are being made available to all. In terms of COVID-19 stats, the curve has flattened for quite some time now, with an average of 75 new cases recorded over the last week, add to that the continuous drop in the number of patients in hospitals and ICUs, but there are worries of a new wave coming in late August or September.