Victorian government says it won’t change its advice on commuters wearing masks

The Victorian government has made a call on mask rules after a rise in Covid cases prompted Queensland to escalate its response.

The Victorian government says it won’t change its advice on commuters wearing masks while catching public transport, despite a rise in Covid cases.

The latest Covid wave has prompted the Queensland government to escalate its Covid response, with the state’s traffic light system now at its second highest level.

The amber tier is activated when there are moderate rates of community transmission. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged residents to “be alert – not alarmed”.

Under this setting, the advice for Queenslanders is to now wear a mask in crowded indoor settings where social distancing is not possible, including on public transport.

Currently in Victoria, it is only recommended to wear a face mask for at least seven days if you have Covid or are a close contact of a positive case and need to leave the house.

Members of the public wear face masks as they commute around the CBD. Picture Getty Images

This advice is also in place for unwell people in places where physical distance can’t be maintained.

Masks are also recommended when visiting a sensitive setting such as hospitals or aged care facilities.

Asked if Victoria would recommend masks on public transport, a state government spokeswoman told the Herald Sun: “There is no change to Victoria’s advice on masks.”

“Face masks remain a low-cost and highly effective tool to help reduce transmission and protect the most at-risk members of the community,” she said.

The state’s chief health officer Brett Sutton this week warned that Victoria is entering a new Covid wave.

The Victorian government ditched its daily Covid updates earlier this year, with Professor Sutton, now only providing a weekly overview of the pandemic situation each Friday.

Data from November 4 revealed that Victoria recorded 10,226 total cases in the past week – a 20 per cent increase from the week prior.

It is expected that Friday’s update will show yet another increase in case numbers compared to last week.

Masks won’t be mandated again.

It comes as the nation’s vaccine advisory body, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, continues to monitor the rising Covid infection numbers.

Some experts this week said ATAGI should recommend a fifth dose ahead of an expected surge in infections over the next few months.

“By and large I would welcome a fifth dose, we are at the beginning of a new wave,” said University of South Australia epidemiologist Professor Adrian Esterman.

“More importantly we have waning immunity, most people had their last dose several months ago.”

Asked about the prospect of a fifth jab, Premier Daniel Andrews said he hadn’t been briefed on discussions.

“Obviously we’re in caretaker, so we’re not necessarily having those sorts of discussions with the Commonwealth,” he said.

“But I’m very supportive of everybody being up to date and I would encourage the Commonwealth government to look at those issues carefully, and I’d be confident that they are.”

Prominent epidemiologist Adrian Esterman warned Covid case numbers in Victoria were on the rise.

The former World Health Organisation epidemiologist said the state’s Covid cases had increased by more than 6400 cases from last week to 16,636 cases.

“This is an 8.7-day doubling time,” he wrote on social media.

Professor Esterman said Victoria’s effective reproduction number – which provides an insight on how many people an infected case will spread the virus to – has risen from 1.11 to 1.32.

He said there is currently 274 people in hospital – an increase of 43 from the prior week.

Eleven people are in ICU, and the state recorded 41 deaths, and increase of 17.

Not all these deaths occurred within the seven day period, however.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton will release his weekly Covid update on Friday afternoon.

Originally published as Victorian government says it won’t change its advice on commuters wearing masks