Daniel Andrews asks regional Victorians to wear masks, extending coronavirus precaution statewide

Premier Daniel Andrews has asked regional Victorians to wear a mask while out in public, as the state battles a massive surge in coronavirus cases.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has asked regional Victorians to wear a face mask while out in public if they do not believe they will be able to maintain 1.5 metre social distancing.

The Premier’s request on Friday, as the state saw another record surge of 428 new coronavirus cases, means the public health recommendation now applies statewide.

“As a precautionary measure, we are now requesting of all regional Victorians that if you are out and about for a lawful purpose, and you do not believe you will be able to maintain that 1.5 metre social distance, then we request that you wear a mask,” Mr Andrews told reporters.

“That is a small thing but it can make a really big difference in stopping the spread of this virus and keeping those low numbers in regional Victoria very low.”

Under Victoria’s reimposed six-week lockdown, less stringent rules currently apply in regional areas, as most of the cases are in metropolitan Melbourne.

Mr Andrews said he was making the request “so we do not have to change the settings and the rules for regional areas of our state”.

He said the mask could be purchased from a store or homemade.

“It can take the form of simply wearing a scarf,” he said.

“All these things, they never eliminate risk but they reduce risk and that is something that all of us should be completely focused on.”

Only five of the new cases announced on Friday – bringing the state’s cumulative total since the pandemic began to 5165 – were in regional areas, which Mr Andrews said was “relatively low numbers in the scheme of things”.

“These things can change rapidly though and that is why additional test sites and expanded test sites are critically important,” he added.

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Of Victoria’s 160 testing sites, 60 are in regional areas.

The Premier thanked those regional Victorians who had tested positive for following strict quarantine rules and staying home.

“That is critically important and again, a really significant contribution that those individuals, albeit small numbers, are making to keeping those numbers very small right across regional Victoria,” he said.

“That ring around Melbourne and Mitchell Shire is working, in terms of reducing the spread of this virus into regional Victoria, but it can change. It can change if people do not follow the rules. It can certainly change if people pretend this is over.”

For the first time, public health teams will be established in regional Victoria to conduct contact tracing and identify cases in local communities.

The first will be at Geelong-based Barwon Health, followed by Bendigo, Ballarat, the La Trobe Valley and Shepparton.

Victoria announced a further three deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s COVID-19 toll to 32.