Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that masks will be mandatory for everyone in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire from this Wednesday night.
Addressing the media this morning, Andrews said:
“Masks and face coverings will from 11.59 PM Wednesday night be mandatory for everyone in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire. If you are out of your home for one of the four permitted reasons, then you need to be wearing a mask and I stress – or a face coverings. It need not be a hospital-grade mask, it’d not be one of the handmade masks like I was wearing when I came in today. It can be a scarf, it can be a homemade mask.”
He continued:
“Now, common sense, as I said, will be the rule here. If you’re out running, part of your daily exercise, then it may not be practical to wear the mask while you are running. But you should bring the mask with you and you should wear it before and after you have gone for your run.”
Andrews said he hopes that no $200 fines will be issued, and that the directive to wear masks will lead to a behavioural change for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. He added:
“We are going to be wearing masks in Victoria, and potentially in other parts of the country, for a very long time. There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus, and it’s a simple thing but it’s about changing habits.”
