Yukon Premier Sandy Silver speaks in Edmonton on June 27, 2019.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
Residents of Yukon will be required to wear a non-medical mask in all public indoor spaces effective Dec. 1.
Premier Sandy Silver made the announcement during the territory’s regular pandemic briefing in Whitehorse.
He says everyone who does not have a medical exemption and is over the age of two will be required to wear a mask.
The territory has 38 cases of COVID-19, including 14 active cases related to what Yukon’s top doctor says is the second wave of the pandemic, involving two separate outbreaks.
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Dr. Brendan Hanley says the illnesses have been linked, either directly or indirectly, to travel outside Yukon.
The territory reintroduced COVID-19 control measures last week that include a mandatory 14-day quarantine for almost everyone entering or returning to the territory after travel outside its boundaries.
Hanley says there is no plan to impose a lockdown, despite the arrival of the second wave, but he warned residents to prepare.
“Now, I don’t mean, by preparation, you need to run out and buy toilet paper,” he says.
“Prepare yourselves, more, that we may see more cases, perhaps many more. Prepare your mental health by being ready to see worse before we see better,” he says.
Hanley also urged residents to “start to think” about organizing virtual gatherings this holiday season.
Silver reminded residents who must quarantine, or follow other public-health orders, that the restrictions are not optional.
He says 26 charges have been laid under the Civil Emergency Measures Act, including the most recent charge last week against a person who failed to self-isolate.
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