Victoria coronavirus: Why we all should wear face masks | Opinion

Sometimes in life we need to do what we’re told but the resistance from the ignorant in Victoria is breathtaking, writes Angela Mollard.

OPINION

Sometimes in life we simply have to do what we’re told.

Not because someone’s being officious.

Not because it’s a pointless curtailment of freedom.

Not because it’s a global conspiracy.

No, sometimes we have to do what we’re told because the safety of the community trumps the rights of the individual.

Victoria’s new mandatory face mask laws are part of an arsenal of strategies to help stop the spread of COVID-19 but the resistance from the ignorant is breathtaking.

“Where is our civil liberties? I guess they don’t exist no more,” wrote one Victorian on Twitter, showcasing not just distasteful self-righteousness but a grievous command of grammar.

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From Thursday it will be mandatory for Victorians to wear a face mask in public. Picture Rohan Kelly

Victorians are being asked to wear face masks because the experts say it will help. Just as we’ve been instructed to wash our hands, social distance, cough into our elbows and not shake hands, anyone over the age of 12 now needs to wear a mask when they head outside from Thursday.

Such is the outcry you’d have thought the populace was being forced into an underground bunker for the next six weeks with only gruel for sustenance. All over social media the selfish and indignant are rising up saying they refuse to comply and won’t pay the $200 fine.

Frankly, it’s pathetic. Our hospital workers have been wearing masks for months and surgeons wear them as a matter of course, sometimes in surgeries lasting up to 12 hours. You don’t hear them whingeing that they’re uncomfortable, or pointless or inhibit their ability to breathe or talk. They just get on with it because their job demands it.

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Healthcare workers have to wear masks and other personal protective equipment for upwards of 12 hours at a time and you don’t hear them moaning. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

Right now, our nation demands it. To date, through considered and exacting public health and economic policies we’ve managed to sidestep the crisis that has occurred in many other countries.

Now, as Victoria grapples with a second wave which threatens to engulf other states and territories, we must heed the advice of those who are spending every waking minute examining the science and the research.

There are times to be an outlier, to challenge the status quo, to think independently and speak up forcefully.

This is not it.

When Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton says he’s recommending compulsory face masks because there’s increasing evidence internationally that mandatory regimes had achieved greater success in suppressing the virus then the least we can do is listen and abide.

And if you can’t, stay inside.

Generations before us have had to don armour, helmets, bulletproof vests, flak jackets and weapons to protect their lives and freedoms. We’re being asked to pop on a bit of cloth and elastic over our mouths and noses not just to protect others but ourselves.

As Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says, it’s just like picking up your phone and keys. “It’s a relatively simple thing but it’s also about embedding behaviour which I think is just as important on the other side of this second wave as it is in bringing these case numbers down.”

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says wearing a mask is a simple thing to do – and it really is. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images.

Of course, face masks are not the only solution. Until we have a vaccine we don’t have one. But if they make some difference, if they save one life, surely they’re worth the minor discomfort and inconvenience.

As infectious diseases expert Professor Peter Collignon told Network Seven this morning, masks confine coughs and splutters and give wearers some protection because it’s less likely droplets will travel to their nose and mouth.

“If you’re indoors and you just can’t keep your distance from other people, a face mask means if I cough it goes on the inside of the shield, or if someone coughs at me it goes on the outside of the shield,” he said. He also pointed out that masks stop us accidentally touching our face and mouth as much.

“Face protection with a mask or with a face shield should make a lot of difference because droplets are the main way this is spread. It’s being close to people, its being sprayed with saliva or a droplet and everything we can do to decrease that chance makes a difference,” he added.

If you’re still in any doubt watch the video of pregnant mother of twins, Kaillee Dyke, struggling to breathe after being struck down by coronavirus. Her partner Chris Lassig shared her story on social media including a video of her rasping breath before she was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital where she’s been on a ventilator and sedated.

Posted by Chris Lassig on Friday, 17 July 2020

The couple, who both contracted the virus, spoke about wearing masks before Ms Dyke became sick. She told him: “If the government is going to say to wear masks, then just do it. They’re not overreacting with the measures that they’ve put in place, they’re clearly there for a reason. And … anybody can get it.”

Yes, they can. All the more reason we need to be cautious and compliant not contrary.

Angela Mollard is a freelance writer. Continue the conversation @angelamollard