Melburnians become masked crusaders to stop spread of coronavirus

From midnight on Wednesday, Melbourne will be populated by masked crusaders, fighting to rid the streets of coronavirus.

Police conduct random ID checks outside Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

From midnight on Wednesday, Melbourne will be populated by masked crusaders, fighting to rid the streets of coronavirus, except under certain circumstances including strenuous outdoor exercise or being under the age of 12.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said face masks will make a “really significant difference” to the transmission risk of COVID-19 when they become mandatory with people facing $200 fines for flouting the new regulations.

People in greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be required to wear a mask when leaving their home for one of the allowed reasons, shopping, medical, education or work and exercise, with exemptions for impractical or medical reasons.

“Masks are to coronavirus a bit like speed limits are to our road toll,” Professor Sutton said.

“They protect you, they protect those around you. I don’t know that there are many that would argue that we shouldn’t have speed limits on the roads because of the importance of protecting everyone in that setting.”

Under the rules, children under the age of 12 and primary school students are exempt from wearing masks as are teachers, educators and carers however the adults must wear masks when not teaching or providing care.

People carrying out strenuous outdoor exercise are also allowed to forgo a mask but must carry one and wear it after they have finished exercising.

Masks are not required when eating, drinking and smoking or vaping.

Professor Sutton said wearing masks was a small sacrifice for people to make in order to combat coronavirus.

 

“It’s a small constraint on our liberties if you like,” he said.

“But it’s a really important one because there is no greater loss of liberty than the loss of your life.

“I think it’s really important to bear that in mind as we look to protect ourselves and those around us and our loved ones.”

Premier Daniel Andrews said wearing a mask wasn’t part of people’s normal lives, however, nothing about the pandemic was normal and he expected wearing masks to make a significant contribution.

“No one enjoys having to impose mandatory mask-wearing or face-covering wearing, but when the health advice is so clear, that we’re in a different stage now than we’ve even been in, and to bring this second wave both to stability and then driving those numbers down … this is deemed to be an appropriate, proportionate and meaningful thing to do, an impactful thing to do,” he said.