Bingo Hall Kicks Out Woman Who Didn't Cover Air Hole in Neck With Mask

An Ontario bingo hall kicked a woman off its premises when she wouldn't put a mask over the hole in her neck she breathes through.

Earlier this month, Elaine Arbeau made her way to Delta Bingo in Pickering, Ont., about a half-hour drive east of Toronto, for some socially distanced bingo but was denied entry at the door. In a lengthy Facebook post, Arbeau’s son, BJ Gilbert, said he found what happened to her "disturbing."

“When she went to Delta Bingo Pickering, she was told to leave by management if she didn't cover up the hole on her neck,” he wrote. “She explained that was impossible to do so. That's how she breathes.”

Gilbert said Arbeau was “beside herself” afterwards but, after researching mask exemptions, got up the courage to go back last Friday. She was turned away from the bingo hall once more, but this time she took a video of her interaction.

The video, seen more than 10,000 times since it was posted on Sunday, shows a man telling Arbeau that because of head office-mandated rules she wasn’t allowed on the premises with the hole in her neck uncovered and asking her to leave.

Arbeau told CTV that she can’t cover up her breathing hole because she would pass out as it would “smother” her.

Cam Johnstone, the CEO of Delta Bingo, told CTV that he would take a “hard look” at the situation but that masks are mandatory and the health and safety of his employees and customers come first.

After shutting down for months because of the lockdown, Ontario restaurants, movie theatres, and establishments like bingo halls have been slowly reopening their doors in recent weeks. Gilbert said that when Ontario reopened, his mother was happy and excited to be able “to go play and see her friends again.”

“My mom doesn't go out much unless it's to play at a casino or bingo hall these days for her enjoyment with her friends,” he wrote. “But with COVID happening she was homebound for six months before they opened up a bingo hall.”

Since the onset of COVID-19, Canada has had more than 127,000 cases of the virus and over 9,100 deaths.

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