Victorians could be forced to wear face masks in public as the state’s coronavirus cases threaten to spiral out of control.
Another 19 cases were diagnosed on Sunday, the fifth straight day of double-digit new infections, and only one of them is an overseas arrival.
The state saw 25, 13, 18 and 21 new cases over the four previous days while the rest of the country had none or just a handful each.
Chief Heath Officer Brett Sutton said on Sunday that if cases keep going up at this rate, mandatory mask wearing may be required.
Victorians could be forced to wear face masks in public as the state’s coronavirus cases threaten to spiral out of control. Pictured is a woman wearing a mask in Melbourne’s CBD
Chief Heath Officer Brett Sutton said on Sunday that if cases keep going up at this rate, mandatory mask wearing may be required
‘Masks have been a hot topic, obviously. The existing national advice has been that they are not required,’ he said.
‘The World Health Organisation advice has been that masks are really recommended only when physical distancing can’t be maintained and where there is high community transmission.
‘I remain open to the idea. I think we have to bear in mind that we will do whatever is required that might help to turn things around in Victoria, because we need to get to a point where we are driving numbers back down to zero.’
Mr Sutton will discuss the issue with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee later on Sunday.
‘I will raise the issue with my AHPPC colleagues, I’m on the phone to them shortly, and I will raise it as a consideration for Victoria, so I remain open to the idea,’ he said.
People leave Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Sunday while while wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus
Victoria has diagnosed another surge in coronavirus infections as family and work clusters expand and derail plans of Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) to reopen the state
University of NSW professor Bill Bowtell argues Australia should have made masks mandatory months ago as a condition of restrictions being eased.
‘They have to be mandatory because otherwise people will get too complacent and think everything is back to normal,’ he told Daily Mail Australia earlier in the crisis.
‘You have a better chance of resisting it if you wear a mask and they prevent asymptomatic people from passing it to others.’
Professor Bowtell cautioned that relaxing restrictions should happen slowly and gradually and be coupled with other measures to make up for them.
He said mandatory face masks should be ‘part of an armoury of tools’ including vastly expanded testing and enhanced contact tracing.
‘No one thing works, we need to have a suite of measures or we risk losing the gains we have made,’ he said.
Another 19 cases were diagnosed in Victoria on Sunday, the fifth straight day of double-digit new infections, and only one of them is an overseas arrival
Wearing face masks in public should be mandatory as part of measures to prevent a second wave of coronavirus after lockdown ends, a top expert claims (pictured: woman wears face mask outside pop-up COVID-19 testing clinic in Bondi)
Professor Bowtell, who led Australia’s response to the 1980s AIDS crisis, said face masks could also allow more businesses like bars and cafes to safely reopen.
‘Face masks will be a very important part of limiting liability for anyone operating a business, along with cleaning and disinfection,’ he said.
‘If you’re going to relax restrictions you have to have continual cleaning of areas where people are likely to get together.’
Professor Bowtell fears of a potential second wave of coronavirus in Australia as people were allowed to mingle more.
Australians are advised against wearing masks at all unless they are confirmed to have the deadly disease, in contrast to the U.S. and parts of Europe.
Most Asian countries, by contrast, strongly insist they are worn and ban residents from public transport and many other areas if they don’t have one (Shanghai’s subway is pictured)
By contrast, in Australia it is rare to see anyone wearing a mask as they walk outside, even at the height of the pandemic, and there is no official advice to do so
Australian health authorities have resisted calls to even recommend wearing masks as their position is that they are of little use.
‘Surgical masks in the community are only helpful in preventing people who have coronavirus disease from spreading it to others,’ official Health Department advise states.
‘If you are well, you do not need to wear a surgical mask as there is little evidence supporting the widespread use of surgical masks in healthy people to prevent transmission in public.’
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said in April that the general public wearing them would be a ‘waste of masks’ and even dangerous.
‘In terms of mask use in the community, I would stress again, at the moment we do not think it is a good idea, partly because of the constraints around supply,’ he said.
Professor Kelly said those who wear the mask incorrectly can find it quite uncomfortable, meaning they will have to touch their face and potentially expose themselves to coronavirus.
‘If you are not used to wearing a mask, it can become quite uncomfortable, even claustrophobic, and… quite edgy underneath the mask,’ he said.
‘So touching a surface with the virus, scratching yourself underneath the mask, could actually increase your risk rather than decrease your risk.
‘There would need to be a strong conversation about how to fit a mask properly and how to use it safely and effectively.’
Not all masks are created equal: Single-use masks and surgical masks have larger pores which the coronavirus can easily slip through. A more expensive N95 mask is the gold standard for healthcare workers fighting infectious diseases
Most Asian countries, by contrast, strongly insist they are worn and ban residents from public transport and many other areas if they don’t have one.
The U.S. also recently reversed course with its Centre for Disease Control now recommending Americans wear masks in public.
Australia manufactured millions of masks for health workers and received shipments of millions more from overseas, including China.
Four of Victoria’s new cases are linked to known outbreaks and three were identified from about 15,400 routine tests overnight.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos on Sunday announced the state’s infectious total had reached 1,836 cases, of which 121 remain active.
‘It is still a very serious situation,’ Health Minister Jenny Mikakos told reporters on Sunday.
‘We have had particularly some concerns around family gatherings, extended family members across many households, visiting each other even when they have been exhibiting mild symptoms.’
Passengers wear protective masks while riding a subway train in Shanghai, China
Face masks are commonplace in East Asia – pictured, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and ministers around him are pictured wearing them yesterday
Two clusters are driving the outbreak – a family that has 11 infections over nine households, and 13 contractors who worked at the Stamford Plaza hotel.
One of Sunday’s new cases was from the family outbreak and three were workers at the hotel. The other eight cases are under investigation.
The new outbreaks prompted Premier Daniel Andrews to extent the state of emergency by four weeks until July 20.
Mr Andrews was criticised by Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien for blaming the outbreak on Victorian families, but the premier renewed this claim on Sunday.
‘The substantial increase in the number of household contacts spreading the virus among extended family groups shows the battle against coronavirus is far from over,’ he said.
‘As we’ve seen across the world, this virus can turn a few cases into hundreds in a matter of days.’
Mr Andrews on Saturday stalled the easing of lockdown restrictions and rolled back the number of guests allowed to gather at houses to five.
Mr Andrews said families gathering (file image pictured) were mainly responsible for the spike which caused him to halt the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on Saturday
One of the outbreaks is 13 contractors who worked at the Stamford Plaza hotel (pictured) in Melbourne, with three new cases on Sunday
Restaurants, pubs, auction halls, community halls, libraries, museums and places of worship will stay at a maximum of 20 people in one space until July 12.
They were scheduled to increase capacity from 20 people to 50 on Monday.
The planned reopening of gyms, cinemas, theatres and TABs on Monday will still go ahead, capped to a maximum of 20 people.
From midnight on Sunday, the number of visitors in a house will be reduced from 20 to five. Outside, people will only be allowed to gather in groups of 10 – a decrease from 20.
The Premier said he had spoken to Prime Minister Scott Morrison about the possibility of reintroducing a stay at home order to ensure Victorians follow the rules.
‘As we’ve seen across the world, this virus has the ability to turn a few cases into hundreds in a matter of days,’ Mr Andrews said.
‘That’s why we need to delay an increase to gathering limits in businesses and community facilities.’
Mr Andrews also threatened authorities would go door-to-door to make sure close contacts of coronavirus patients who were ordered to self-isolate were doing so.
‘We will go door-to-door, getting the message out there to communities across the state that these restrictions are there for everyone,’ he said.
‘We’ll go door to if we have to make sure people are doing the right thing.’