Starting next week, all Metrolinx staff will be wearing masks while on the job in a bid to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as Ontario’s economy starts to reopen.
Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said during the week of May 11, all staff must start to wear masks while at work, echoing a similar move by the Toronto Transit Commission, which distributed masks to all of its operators last month.
Public health officials in Canada were slower to accept the idea that wearing masks in public could slow the spread of the respiratory infection, saying at first that all commercially available masks should be kept for use by health care workers.
Since then, a growing amount of evidence suggests mask use can slow or stop the spread of respiratory droplets believed to carry the virus from one person to another.
This is especially important given a large share of those infected with the virus detect few or no symptoms.
The agency has also installed new plexiglass shielding aboard its buses and in its stations, roped off seats on trains to ensure physical distancing and stopped accepting cash fares back in March.
To date, Aikins said the agency has had five confirmed and four probable cases of COVID-19 among its staff of about 4,300.
Meanwhile, the union representing TTC operators is asking that the public wear masks when board transit vehicles, as it is expected passenger volumes will increase as more businesses resume operation.
