Some Sask. businesses opting to keep masks mandatory after July 11

Even with Saskatchewan abandoning all remaining  public health measures — including mandatory masking indoors — starting Sunday, some businesses across the province could be asking customers to keep masks on for a little while longer.

Carmen Milenkovic, the executive director of the Saskatchewan Craft Council, said concerns surrounding the COVID-19 Delta variant and employees’ comfort factored into extending its own mandatory masking policy until at least July 25.

“I’m ready to get rid of the masks, theoretically,” Milenkovic said. “But I do recognize our staff, artists and a number of people on the street aren’t quite ready yet. I think we need to see some proof that it’s actually working.”

Milenkovic said the council would revisit the conversation after the two-week period to see if case numbers or vaccinations increase drastically.

“We just want to be cautious. We’ve been in this for so long. We just don’t want to throw it all to the wind and not have done due diligence just because we’re so tired of it all,” Milenkovic said of people visiting the group’s gallery and boutique on Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon.

The precautionary masking isn’t just for art galleries. The Griffin Takeaway bakery doesn’t have customers staying long, but owner Derek Barr still expects people to wear a mask during their brief visits.

“It’s not even so much a worry about the disease,” Barr said. “You shouldn’t feel threatened walking into a building to buy a dessert.

“It’s better safe than sorry.”

Barr said the main reason for keeping masks on is the risk of his business shutting down for any length of time because COVID still exists.

Rather than an employee getting sick and being under days of contact tracing, Barr would like to keep his employees and his bakery protected as business picks up again.

“I’m not sure if I can survive two to three weeks of no revenue,” he said.

Vicki Aitken figures masking will last longer than just a few weeks at her spa, Novo Esthetics Studio.

She’s not tying her decision to vaccination rates or case numbers at all, and rather than pry private information out of people, Aitken would rather keep the 2020 status quo happening longer.

“I respect there are a lot of our clients who either can’t or have chosen not to get vaccinated. I don’t want to alienate those people or cause any more division,” she said. “Keeping the masks is also a little bit about not having anyone pull out a vaccine passport to try to prove their vaccination to us.

“This is working, let’s continue to keep everyone safe whether or not you decided to get your vaccine.”

Aitken said “a large majority” of her customers feel the masking mandate was lifted too early and have no problem keeping their masks on for the rest of the summer.

“I am leaning towards feeling it out and seeing what happens in the fall,” she said. “I didn’t get sick at all last year, and I think the masks played a huge role in that. I would love to skip another flu season of feeling like I need to take a few days off.”

With customers spending an average of an hour at the studio for a manicure, pedicure or facial, Aitken said some customers might not want to wear a mask for that long, and she understands if they choose to seek these services elsewhere.

“At the end of the day, it’s about respecting everyone’s boundaries and everyone’s choices,” she said.

Masks and sanitizer will remain at the front of the Saskatchewan Craft Council, The Griffin Takeaway and Novo Esthetics Studio for all the people who don’t have a mask with them, something Milenkovic expects to happen frequently in the coming weeks.

With no idea what to expect for the rest of July, all three companies are fine with the cautious approach for now.

“For (the province) to say everything will be safe by July 11, I mean that’s really pulling a date out of the air,” Milenkovic said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story, correcting the name of the Saskatchewan Craft Council.