Discussions

Looking more and more like masks will be mandatory soon especially inside businesses. Where do you buy them? I don’t want to sew my own. The neck warmer style that some of the baseball players are wearing on the Blue Jays game would be better no elastic around the ears. Almost like a handkerchief? Won’t be long before advertising companies will be putting their logos on them.

A lot of clothing stores have started selling them. Old Navy, Warehouse One, etc. Costco has had a decent stick of disposable and cloth ones as well if you shop there ever.

In Brandon?

Has disposable ones last week I bought a package 20.00 for 20 masks just in bin by the til.  
 
As Jellybean stated - local store- warehouse One is located in Corral Centre near Subway in that strip of stores  
 
There are also a few for sale classified unless they are sold out.  
 
Edited by Mac72, 2020-07-26 11:20:10

Unique uniform has them if your looking for cloth. Some people on Facebook are selling home made ones but I’m not sure if they will be of a useful grade/ quality.

Dollarama and Walmart. You don’t have to pay and arm and leg for them

I saw some at Winners the other day near the checkouts.

Amazon has a huge selection of "fun" ones to choose from. However, their expectation dates on delivery for many are way into September. Something to consider if planning for your kids to be having some when school starts. Although, the Brandon School Division hasn't declared to make it mandatory (yet), I would wave to the side of caution in being prepared for such an announcement. I'm just saying... The BSD board of trusties and our Provincial Government has a poor history of waiting for an answer from someone else before acting (Actually, even asking the question in the first place, takes way too long). Thus, appearing to the public as somewhat wishy-washy with decisions. Answer to questions like: Are they going to have a regular year with applied policies for limitations to accommodate social distancing? Is it going to be a modified version of alternating days on and off or just classes for students falling behind? Or are we having something like what we had back in March, April and June? No one knows, because no one with authority will step up to the plate until the last week of August. Although, I'm not buying any school supplies until an announcement is made of the divisions plans, I'm still ordering some masks now. It would only prove logical (and smart for the BSD) that a mandatory mask policy would be in place if students are expected to enter into/onto the school property. But we all know that the division has made some questionable decisions and has a very bad habit of "leaving everything to the end" before rushing out a "half baked" plan. So, if I were you... Look on Amazon for masks that kids would like.  
 
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Lady of the Lake has a display of reusable masks.  
 
Hedley's in the mall had disposable masks by the tills the last time I was in there.

If you prefer the Neck Gaiters, a company based in Florida called SA Sports (https://safishing.com/shop/buy-1-get-4-free-face-shields-a51/#configuration) has many different styles. Before the pandemic struck, they had probably about 200+ styles to choose from, but the selection has been limited now because they are so swamped with orders. The bonus is that they can also be worn in so many other ways, like a doo rag, bandanna, wrist band etc.

Dollarama...gas stations...Sally's

It was announced on June 25 that all school divisions were supposed to prepare 3 plans.  
 
"The framework provides guidance for school divisions to develop detailed reopening plans to be submitted to Manitoba Education for three public health scenarios including:  
• in-class learning with near-normal conditions:  
• in-class learning, taking additional public health measures into consideration: and  
• remote learning from home, with limited use of school facilities.  
 
The minister noted that while the plan is for all students to return to classroom learning in the fall, Manitoba Education will provide final confirmation by Aug. 1 based on public health directions."  
 
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=48514&posted=2020-06-25  
 
It was also made clear that school divisions need to be prepared to switch between the different levels as the school year progresses and things develop.  
 
So, we should see an announcement regarding this by the end of this week or very early next week, not "the last week of August".

A recent (July 14) message from the school division regarding reopening and PPE:  
 
"In early August, Manitoba Education will identify which of the three scenarios will be used for the return to school in September. Around the same time we would expect the Chief Public Health Officer to define the Health Orders that we must follow for the return to school plan. It would be my expectation that within two weeks of these two announcements the Brandon School Division will announce the specifics to our return to school plan for the fall.  
 
[...]  
 
At this time there is no requirement for Personal Protective Equipment to be worn while students and staff are at school. However, students and staff are free to utilize Personal Protective Equipment if they so choose. As per the Chief Medical Officer, we will continue to implement plans around physical distancing, handwashing, and cleansing high traffic surfaces."  
 
https://www.bsd.ca/News/covid19updates/Pages/default.aspx  
 
So, while there currently isn't a plan to have all students wear PPE, you will be free to encourage your child to do so. Of course that might change, but we've been very fortunate so far in Manitoba we've been spared the worse and don't have any mandatory masking rules, unlike many places in Canada.  
 
If we all do our part, we might be able to avoid mandatory masking entirely.

Make sure any cloth  
 
mask you buy is made with 100% cotton. Filters better.