City of Regina reintroducing mask policy, vaccination requirement likely to come

Make sure the facemask is at hand; you’ll likely need to use it in Regina now.

The City of Regina is expected to reintroduce a mandated mask policy at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m.

“(Masks will be required on) buses for sure, especially when we pack them. We are going back to regular service so the service will be busier,” Mayor Sandra Masters said Monday.

“All bus drivers are still wearing their mask and we will be requiring passengers on buses wear a mask. We are back to wearing masks this week at City Hall and at our facilities, all employees will be wearing masks and coming up we will be asking for mask wearers at all city facilities.”

She described the plan as a fulsome reaction to the week-to-week changing COVID situation. It means leisure centres, libraries, rinks and other city facilities will require mask use, but it isn’t clear when this will start. Masters did say passengers on the Rider Express will need a mask for Sunday’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Her confirmation came just hours after the Saskatchewan Roughriders announced a new vaccination policy which requires proof of vaccination.

Masters hinted that requirement will likely expand to other facilities as well.

“The idea of what the Riders and the exhibition association are building in collaboration with and the help of the provincial government through the QR code is that we are are probably going to move to proof of vaccination for city facilities into the near future as that QR code becomes available. As the Riders put into place what is being done at the stadium, we will scale that out,” Masters explained.

Masters said the city certainly took an interest in the conversations between the Riders and Regina Exhibition Association Limited as they worked through the vaccination policy, especially as the city will follow suit. She added it is important people stay safe and the city will play a role in making that happen.

“We are in a fourth wave; this is probably what it looks like,” Masters said. “What I am interested in is keeping people safe. I think most people would feel the same way.

“We’re going to do whatever it is we need to do. We’ve been doing it for 20 months and we can continue to adjust our day-to-day lives so we can reduce the spread and keep cases down. We want to do that without major interventions. We want to stop the strain on the health-care system. Vaccinations are the key out of this.”

The mayor looked to Saskatoon and said she felt sympathy for that city and its current rise in cases. She hoped Regina could remain with a low case rate because it is the city with the highest number of fully vaccinated people.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Dom Lucyk