The Grey Bruce Labour Council is coming out strongly in favour of mandatory mask wearing in public spaces.
Masks or face coverings are now required to be worn in indoor public spaces throughout Midwestern Ontario starting Friday.
"The idea of mask-wearing and protective barriers, whether it be for the general public or workers, it just plays right into that wheelhouse of one of the foundations and important keystones in all of organized labour which is health and safety," said Dave Trumble, vice-president for Bruce County.
Trumble also suggests that wearing a mask is not only good for the health of those around you but also the economy.
He said he watched a news report out of the US that featured an expert from the Centres for Disease Control who suggested if everyone wore a mask, they could get the coronavirus spread under control in four to six weeks.
"I'm not a health expert but if you listen to our news reports we're in a pretty good spot," Trumble said. "Imagine how good we'd be in four to six weeks if the public bought in two masks across the board, what a wonderful spot we'd be in and how quickly we'd be able to open our economy back up."
There are myths circulating on social media that suggest a mask can lead to carbon dioxide poisoning, a notion Trumble quickly dismisses.
"We know, historically speaking, that people wear personal protective equipment for hours and hours and hours every day of their work lives," said Trumble. "And you know? I have yet to ever come across anybody wearing a face mask or wearing a face shield that ever suffered from any form of carbon dioxide poisoning or oxygen deprivation."
