City of Regina announces mandatory vaccines and masking for employees and facility users

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The City of Regina says it’s employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of September 15, while users of all indoor City facilities will need to be vaccinated by September 20.

Further details on how people will need to provide proof of vaccination will be announced in the coming weeks, according to the City.

Starting this Saturday, masks will be required when visiting indoor City facilities and while riding Regina Transit, that includes shuttles for the Labour Day Classic game this Sunday.

“The health and safety of City of Regina residents and employees is our top priority,” said City Manager Chris Holden in a release. “Masks continue to be an effective way to limit the spread of COVID-19 while vaccination is the best protection against the virus. The most important way to protect ourselves, our families and our neighbours is for every eligible individual to be vaccinated.”

Holden added that the city is prepared for possible backlash against the decisions for masking indoors along with the proof of vaccination, he does asks for co-operation through this time. “There will be a response, number of residents in our community that are going to say that we went too far, and we’ll deal with those in a city facility. We want to avoid altercations, we’re not into getting into confrontations, instances in putting our staff at risk, we’re looking for the understanding of the community.”

With the introduction of proof of vaccination for the public set to begin on September 20, Holden says they will begin immediately to provide awareness to the public. He noted that once the proof of vaccination does comes in effect for the public, it will be their responsibility to either provide the proper records or a negative test result, as the city will provide rapid testing for their employees, but not for the public who’s looking into entering an indoor city facility.

Meetings with doctors from the Saskatchewan Health Authority have been happening on a daily basis according to Holden, he added “We look to SHA to share their findings and their advice, in speaking with doctors, there concerns are obviously that the Delta variant is quite different from the previous strains and there is a huge concern of transmission in indoor spaces, so that’s why our focus is indoor and making sure people are being vaccinated, being vaccinated doesn’t mean you stop wearing a mask because as a vaccinated individual can carry the virus.”

Holden noted that the mask mandate will not be in effect for the Labour Day Classic on Sunday because Mosaic Stadium is an outdoor facility, but said that the mandatory mask protocol is in place for the Rider Transit shuttle service because individuals are in a confined space.

The digital QR code to the MySaskHealthRecord account being available by mid September was the reason for the target dates chosen said Holden, he added “The QR code is a very important piece of the technology that we need to move forward and it’s much easier for employees and definitely proof of vaccination for the public.”

Currently, 106 of the province’s 2,068 active cases of COVID-19 are in the Regina zone.

The City of Saskatoon implemented similar mandates on Monday.

 

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