Victorians have their state on mandatory face mask rule
Compulsory mask wearing continues to be a contentious topic in Victoria. Here’s what more than 12,000 people think about the rule.
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Eight out of 10 people surveyed about Victoria’s mandatory mask rules want face coverings scrapped outdoors.
An online poll of 12,005 readers on the Herald Sun website found a whopping 83 per cent thought masks should not be mandatory outdoors while socially distanced.
But there is no timeline for the winding back of these restrictions in Victoria, despite summer on the way and the temperature to hit 30C on Tuesday.
A group of epidemiologists, including Deakin University’s Catherine Bennett and the Australian National University’s Peter Collignon, on Sunday said masks could be safely ditched outdoors with active cases nearing zero.
On Monday, epidemiologist Professor Adrian Esterman said while the road map out of restrictions was working, masks may not be necessary if case numbers remain low.
He said authorities could loosen the mask rules when other states reopened their borders to Victoria.
NSW is due to reopen to Victoria on November 23.
“If there is no community transmission there is no need for masks,” Prof Esterman said.
“Outside of Victoria life is pretty much normal … It is possible that you could do away with them (current mask requirements) when you open.”
Prof Esterman said it was sensible to remove compulsory mask use for outdoor areas first.
“That would be the first step because it is not quite so important in the open air,” he said.
Department of Health and Human Services’ testing commander Jeroen Weimar said it was too early to consider altering mask rules.
He said it had only been a fortnight since Stage 4 restrictions were eased and many of the biggest actions of Victoria’s road map were yet to be undertaken.
With prospect of interstate and international travel increasing over the coming weeks, Mr Weimar said masks would remain a key element of Victoria’s COVID-19 defence for some time.
“Masks are a thing that all of us can use. It is a low cost and easy thing to do that makes a material difference in reducing the risk of transmission,” he said.
“That continues to be a position and we think it is a really important part of our armoury to prevent coronavirus.
“We have to look at the future of this program. When we start to look at people coming back into the state from overseas it will all change the risk profile of what we are dealing with.”
A DHHS spokesman said current public health advice was still that Victorians must wear masks outside their home.
“Masks are an important part of our current infection prevention and control strategy which includes hand hygiene and physical distancing requirements,” he said.
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