Australian state open to mask mandate return as Covid fourth wave closes hospital ward

One state has not ruled out returning to mandated mask wearing before Christmas, as case numbers and hospitalisations spike.

Western Australia has not ruled out returning to mandated mask wearing, as Covid case numbers spike across the country.

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer confirmed last week the nation was entering a fourth wave of the virus, with a ”soup” of new Omicron variants – all with the ability to evade immunity – driving up case numbers.

“We are seeing an increase in Covid-19 case numbers in Australia, reflecting community transmission of the Omicron variant XBB,” Professor Kelly said on Wednesday.

Most states and territories have seen huge increases in both cases and hospitalisations over the past few weeks, with WA forced to close a hospital ward after a cluster of cases were unearthed.

The state’s chief health officer, Dr Andy Robertson, declined to absolutely rule out a return of restrictions, as he warned WA was still weeks away from the peak of its fresh wave.

“Face masks is something we would consider,” Dr Robertson told The West Australian.

“There are always options we could look at, if for example, we got a variant that was a lot more severe or a lot more people were getting seriously unwell.”

Western Australia’s chief health officer has suggested he has not ruled out a return to mask mandates should the state’s spike in cases worsen. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

But Dr Robertson said there was no immediate push or plan to return to masks, with health authorities currently only “strongly encouraging” mask wearing and urging anyone unwell to stay at home.

WA’s Police Minister, Paul Papalia, said on Friday it was “likely” the state would face a new wave of cases, and that the government would consider new restrictions if they were advised by Dr Robertson.

”You’ve got to remember in Western Australia, we’ve probably got the highest third dose rate in the world … that should help us,” Mr Papalia said.

”But that’s the challenge of Covid, it’s going to change, it’s going to adapt, and we’ve got to respond as necessary.

”As we’ve always done since the pandemic, we’ll accept Andrew Robertson’s advice.”

On Friday, WA’s Police Minister said if it were recommended by Dr Robertson (pictured), the state government would consider bringing back restrictions. Picture: Colin Murty The Australian

Australia’s fourth wave has “several causes” and comes “just in time for Christmas”, according to University of South Australia chair of biostatistics Adrian Esterman.

“Many people had their last dose of vaccine over six months ago and by now have comparatively little protection against symptomatic disease,” Professor Esterman said.

“At the same time, we have little or no public health measures in place to put a brake on transmission. The removal of mandatory isolation for infectious people just as new subvariants were on the horizon really was a poor decision.”

While Western Australia has not definitively ruled out a return to restrictions, CMO Paul Kelly said it was “not likely”.

“You know, that’s not my decision, but I don’t think that (fresh restrictions are) likely,” Professor Kelly said on Sunrise.

“My advice at the moment is to be alert but not afraid – I think that would be a good way to look at it.”

On Thursday, Queensland updated its Covid alert status to amber, which signalled a recommendation for masks to be worn in more indoor venues, and for those who are a household contact of a confirmed case to take a rapid test every two days.

While possible, CMO Professor Paul Kelly has suggested it is unlikely the new Covid strains will cause an increase in cases bad enough to warrant new rules.

Epidemiologist Professor Catherine Bennett told NCA NewsWire while Australia hasn’t seen a situation where multiple variants have been competing for dominance at once, it was unlikely a lockdown would make any difference.

“Lockdowns won’t work, they don’t work with Omicron … we would only go back to that if we were absolutely desperate,” she said.

“If we had a variant that was bringing serious illness in a way we haven’t seen before, then we might need to resort to more enforced measures.”

Originally published as Australian state open to mask mandate return as Covid fourth wave closes hospital ward