Victorian mask mandate could be expanded to MORE indoor spaces just weeks after it was rolled back

The Doherty Institute, which drafted Australia’s long road out of lockdown, prepared a report for national cabinet outlining its alarming data and urging all states to reintroduce face mask mandates and restrictions of gatherings.

But Australian National University professor Peter Collignon AM told Daily Mail Australia the grim prediction is ‘completely unbelievable’.

‘I don’t know where they’ve come up with this modelling but it’s not based on any real world data,’ he said.

‘They are assumptions that do not correlate to anything we’ve seen before in summer in any other country.

‘If there were 200,000 cases a day, the whole of Australia would be infected in just a few months. That hasn’t happened anywhere in the world.’

The Doherty Institute claims without low-to-medium restrictions, including limits on visitors and density in pubs, cafes and restaurants, the country could face millions of Covid cases within weeks.

As a part of the predicted 200,000 cases a day, researchers predicted hospitalisations could hit 4,000 a day – putting a heavy strain on the medical system.

This would lead to between 8,000 and 10,000 patients in ICUs over the course of the wave, based on modelling of how many would get sick enough to need it – even with Covid booster rollouts in full swing.

If the dire prediction is accurate, Australia would have four times the number of cases as Britain did in its horror summer when infections peaked at about 45,000 cases a day.

‘They’ve got twice the population of us and far less vaccination. So I just find that figure unbelievable and not realistic,’ Professor Collignon said.

‘We haven’t seen this in South Africa or anywhere else in the world.’

Professor Collignon also explained why the potential reintroduction of mask mandates may not have much of an impact on containing the spread.

‘Face masks might decrease your risks by about 10 per cent but over the medium to long term it won’t really make a lot of difference, particularly in summer when people won’t use them properly. That’s the reality of it,’ he said.

‘I find their figure of 200,000 unbelievable, therefore I find their assumptions about masks probably unbelievable too.’  

The Doherty Institute’s data based off current restrictions, which include no lockdowns, no retail restrictions, and open schools.

It assumes Omicron has the same severity of disease as Delta, something that has yet to be proven with many experts of the belief it is a more infectious but milder variant.

Doherty Institute modelling has not proved accurate throughout the pandemic and is criticised for flawed methodology and small timeframes that don’t account for full pictures.