Rita Panahi: There is just no case for face masks any more
Why in god’s name would holiday makers choose to come to Victoria when they could go to NSW or Queensland and enjoy the summer heat without suffocating on a useless mask, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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Face masks have become symbolic, rather than a medical imperative.
The “face panty” symbolises obedience, apprehension and, in the minds of some, virtue.
It matters not that submitting to a mandatory mask mandate has negligible medical benefits when outside; the mere act of donning a face covering signals to the simple-minded Karen brigade that you’re a really, really good person. Really.
These folk have been emboldened like never before in the age of ’rona — you know the type, the finger-wagging scolds who become aroused if they see someone walking in a park or lying on a beach, socially distanced from strangers, with their mask slipping below their nose.
They will go out of their way to approach the recalcitrant stranger to harangue them about correct mask wearing.
One fears that the arrival of an effective vaccine will send these folk into a spiral of despair.
How will they get their fill of righteous indignation when dobbing in their neighbours to the COVID hotline is no longer an option?
On a more serious note, Victoria’s compulsory mask rule is a massive setback for the state’s beleaguered tourism industry at a time when they need every single booking.
Why in god’s name would holiday makers choose to come here if they are forced to wear a face covering which is not mandatory anywhere else in the country? What fun to walk around the city or spend a day in the countryside in the stifling heat with your face sweating thanks to a mask that has no discernible health benefit.
Many Victorian and interstate tourists will opt for destinations in NSW or Queensland, where they can enjoy the summer heat and the great outdoors without suffocating on a useless mask.
Those in regional areas, largely untouched by Melbourne’s second wave, are also wondering why they are being forced to don a mask when outdoors particularly when there’s not another soul around.
It was 37C in Mildura on the weekend and yet locals were compelled to wears masks when outside despite the fact that there has only been a handful of cases in the town since the pandemic began.
Incredibly, Dan Andrews sought to impose his mask tyranny on Victorians who travel interstate.
On the weekend the Premier told reporters that he was seeking advice on whether the mask mandate should “follow” Victorians into other states.
“I’ll need to speak to the chief health officer about whether he has views on whether Victorian rules follow you when you move into another state,” Andrews said.
Not to question Andrews’ or Brett Sutton’s legal expertise, but a simple Google search would show the Premier that he has zero authority to enforce compulsory mask wearing on Victorians who cross the border to another state.
The requirement to wear masks outdoors was questionable even in the midst of Melbourne’s second wave but to continue to impose the draconian measure in the hotter months with zero community transmission is utterly absurd.
An increasing number of doctors and public health experts are encouraging the Victorian government to drop mandatory masks and have a more targeted, nuanced response that is based on medical evidence rather than politics.
Public health physician and Melbourne University associate professor Nathan Grills fears that a “climate of fear is clouding evidence and common sense” in Victoria.
Deakin University chair of epidemiology, Catherine Bennett, and Australian National University infectious diseases expert, Prof Peter Collignon, have also called for mask rules to be eased, particularly when outdoors and socially distanced from others.
Even before Victoria’s infection rate plummeted, the wearing of masks outdoors was seen by many medical experts as not only unnecessary but potentially harmful.
Dr Eamonn Mathieson was among those outspoken about restrictions based on something other than science.
“There is no evidence that using masks in an open space will reduce your risk,” he told me in October.
“Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based medicine backs the claim that imposed mandatory masking of an entire population is ineffective and we would argue causes many issues and medical conditions.”
One wonders how many Victorians are washing their face masks each day or throwing out the paper masks after each use.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some masks that have been touched and tugged at dozens of times carry more germs than the average toilet seat.
One can only hope that sanity prevails and the premier relaxes the mandatory mask rule when NSW opens its border with Victoria on November 23.
IN SHORT
Travelling through Pennsylvania and New York over the last three weeks, I was surprised to see widespread mask wearing indoors and outdoors. Both states have a mask edict when outside, a sensible measure given the rate of infection, and yet their numbers continue to soar.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist
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