Masks are no longer mandatory on public transport in SA

Masks are no longer mandatory on public transport – effective tomorrow.

Masks are no longer mandatory on public transport in South Australia.

On Monday, Premier Peter Malinauskas and Health Minister Chris Picton announced a further easing of Covid restrictions.

Masks are still mandatory in health care services, pharmacies, disability care facilities, residential aged care facilities, but will no longer be required on public transport.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said “as of tomorrow the requirement to wear masks on public transport would have concluded”.

Speaking to the media following Monday’s Emergency Management Council meeting, which was brought forward, Mr Malinauskas said the move was made off the back of health advice from acting Chief Public Health Officer Dr Chris Lees.

“I think this is another step forward in terms of management of the pandemic,” Mr Malinauskas said.

SA Health said people were still encouraged to wear masks in place where they are unable to physically distance and in indoor or crowded places.

WA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT have all removed mask mandates for public transport.

“I think there are a lot of public transport patrons who will look forward to that relief being put in place from tomorrow,” Mr Malinauskas said.

But the premier reiterated that individuals were “still welcome to wear masks” should they choose.

QR check-in requirements for disability and healthcare settings will also be scrapped from Friday this week.

Vaccination requirements for visitors into aged care settings will also be removed.

“There are some South Australians who were unable to visit a loved one in an aged care facility simply because they were not vaccinated, that was always a decision that was going to come to an end,” Mr Malinauskas said.

Last week, SA recorded 3631 new cases of Covid-19 and 58 deaths related to the virus. There have been about 762,000 cases and 907 Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

However, Health Minister Chris Picton said aged care facilities would be asked to consider using rapid antigen tests prior to entry.

Mask restrictions for aged care will also remain in place and vaccination requirements for aged care workers will remain in place.

Mr Picton said the rules regarding destruction of data from QR codes would continue to be enforced, despite the system being phased out of aged care and healthcare settings.

This comes after the easing of isolation requirements in the state on September 9, reducing the seven day quarantine to five days.

Mask mandates on flights were also dropped earlier this month.