Masks will be required in all Health P.E.I. facilities starting Oct. 14

PEIOfficials with Health P.E.I. say people will have to wear masks inside all of the provincial health authority’s facilities beginning next week. ‘It’s not a matter of if we’re going to mask, it’s a matter of when we’re going to mask’Health P.E.I. is reinstating a mandatory masking policy in all of its facilities in response to the growing presence of respiratory illnesses on the Island. (narongpon chaibot/Shutterstock)Officials with Health P.E.I. say people will have to wear masks inside all of the provincial health authority’s facilities beginning next week. The policy is being put in place in response to the growing presence of respiratory illnesses on the Island.Lara MacMurdo, director of occupational health, safety and wellness with Health P.E.I., said rates of respiratory illness are often higher this time of year.”Masks are are known to be one of those easy measures that we can implement to ensure the safety and the health of our health-care workforce and our overall health-care system,” she said. “It’s just one of those things that we can expect to see year over year… Masking is that new reality. “It’s not a matter of if we’re going to mask, it’s a matter of when we’re going to mask.”All members of the public, including visitors and partners in care, will be required to wear a mask when they’re within two metres of any patients or residents of a Health P.E.I. facility, the agency said in a release.”[It’s] not all the time,” MacMurdo said. “It’s just when you’re within that six-feet distance, or providing that direct patient care.” ‘Masks are are known to be one of those easy measures that we can implement to ensure the safety and the health of our health-care workforce and our overall health-care system,’ MacMurdo says. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)The new policy goes into effect Tuesday, Oct. 14, and masks will be available at all Health P.E.I. building entrances.Health staff will be given guidelines about when they can remove their own masks and will follow other infection control measures like proper hand washing, staying home when sick and reporting any illness to their managers.Health P.E.I. said it will update its masking policy again when it’s safe to do so. With files from Delaney Kelly