A group of doctors in Medicine Hat is calling for an expedited debate on a local mask bylaw in an open letter to council that is co-signed by more than 400 Hatters including nurses, teachers, former aldermen, school board trustees and others.
Drs. Park Parks and Nicoelle Wanner write in the letter that was delivered Monday.
Medicine Hat remains one of the only large municipalities in Alberta without a mask mandate.
They say the municipal measure would help front-line workers, the general public, and business owners.
“Because of the significant increase in the number of cases in our community, time is of the essence,” it reads. “With the Christmas and holiday season only a few weeks away, it is extremely important that we take all the public health measures, including continuous masking in closed public paces, so that our small businesses cans stay open now and people’s livelihoods are not jeopardized by another lockdown.”
“We request your leadership to pass this bylaw on an urgent basis in the interest of our community,” it concludes.
Last week, Mayor Ted Clugston announced he would maintain the basic timeline of revisiting the issue at council’s next meeting on Dec. 7.
That came after provincial health authorities declared a public health emergency last week, lowered operating capacity for businesses and piggybacked on local mask bylaws in Calgary and Edmonton.
On Nov. 16, council members supported city-led promotional campaign asking Hatters to voluntarily comply with health guidelines, like hand washing, maintaining distances and generally isolate themselves as much as possible.
At the same time, about half of the nine-person council stated they would support a bylaw on mask-use if a rise in local cases didn’t reverse.
Since then, the number of active local cases of COVID-19 have doubled from 50 to 104, as of Sunday.
Along with medical doctors, the letter is signed by about a dozen dentists, optometrists, and pharmacists, not including those identifying as nurses or other healthcare professionals.
Signatures also include those of former aldermen Ken Sauer, the current chair of the Palliser Triangle Health Advisory Board, and Graham Kelly, the current board chair of Medicine Hat College, and Bill Cocks.
Local chapter of the Friends of Medicare board is listed, as are Public School Board vice-chair Rick Massini and trustee Carolyn Freeman.
Others describe themselves as business owners, lawyers, educators, students, childcare workers, custodians, and a number describing themselves as “retired” individuals.”
