Amendments Made to Burlington's Temporary Mask & Physical Distancing Bylaws

*Please see below a news release issued by the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont. — Nov. 24, 2021 — Burlington City Council has approved amendments to the temporary Mask By-law and Physical Distancing By-law to extend both to expire June 30, 2022 as they were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2021. Council has removed Community Centre from the physical distancing requirement in the Physical Distancing By-law as those requirements are regulated under other provincial legislation.As the pandemic evolves, Council has the ability to pass a motion at any time to revoke these by-laws.  The expiry date of June 30 can be repealed in March should COVID-19 conditions be favourable and the Province lifts their mask mandate.This does not mean that levels of health and safety protections will be reduced in these City facilities or that physical distancing will not be maintained.Quick Facts:

• The By-laws were implemented in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of the community
• The amendments in 2020 to the City’s temporary Mask By-law were made for consistency with Halton Region’s Mask By-law

MAYOR MEED WARD'S TAKE:We have made great strides and progress these past few months and I am grateful to all of our residents for doing all that you can. Although there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we're not out of the pandemic yet, and our temporary mask and physical distancing bylaws remain some of the best tools we have, combined with high vaccination rates, to ensure this pandemic ends. If the situation improves, or if the province lifts their bylaw, we will have an opportunity to lift our bylaws sooner as well.RELATED LINKS:

• Mask Bylaw and Information: burlington.ca/masks
• Coronavirus information: burlington.ca/coronavirus

--*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor's Media and Digital Communications Specialist