Masks will be mandatory in all indoor settings again in Victoria from 11:59pm tonight to help slow the spread of Omicron locally.
Face masks will be required in all indoor settings, except private homes, for people aged eight and over.
Masks will also be required at all major events over 30,000 people, indoors or outdoors.
Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino made announced this morning saying mandating the masks is “common sense” and that the mandate would allow Victoria to stay open.
“This is a sensible response which will allow businesses to stay open, bars and restaurants to continue to stay open and major events to go ahead,” he said.
“Masks are a cheap and effective way to maintain the health of the community and it’s something public health experts have been calling for.”
He also said the government was recommending all Victorians to work from home over the festive season if possible to reduce transmission.
“A lot of people are already doing this through the Christmas-New Year period. Again, it makes common sense,” Merlino said.
“Ultimately, we’re able to keep our state open because more than 90 per cent of Victorians got vaccinated and we’re vaccinating our way through this variant as well.”
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton also said that the mask mandate — rather than leaving it a matter of “personal responsibility” like NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has — was essential.
“The difference between highly recommending something and mandating something is the level of compliance that we see,” Sutton said.
“I have just pointed out to you the masks that we saw come off as soon as we went from mandate to strongly recommended. We usually get about 50 per cent levels of cooperation or compliance with a strong recommendation. It goes to 95 – 99 per cent with a mandate. Why would you introduce a half measure when you need the full measure to be in place?”
Experts have been screaming for a mandate since cases started to rise steeply last week, including our own federal chief medical officer.
Some important tips on #ventilation. More important than ever with Omicron. #COVIDisAirborne https://t.co/fhYvbrIPCc
— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) December 21, 2021
Officials were questioned whether Victoria would join WA in mandating a COVID-19 booster to be considered “fully vaccinated” but it did not confirm any changes.
“I have got no advice on that at the moment,” Sutton said.
“I think people are super keen to get the booster. We need to make it available. We need to ensure that appropriate numbers are available and then see how the booster coverage goes.”
