Victoria reintroduces mask mandates as acting premier takes swipe at Scott Morrison

The Victorian government has taken a swipe at Scott Morrison and Dominic Perrottet for failing to act on health advice recommending the introduction of mask mandates.

Victoria’s acting premier, James Merlino, has announced that from 11.59pm Thursday masks will become mandatory in all indoor venues outside the home, for those eight years and over across the state.

Mask mandates are now in place in Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, Tasmania, parts of the Northern Territory and certain high-risk settings in South Australia.

Merlino also said face masks would be required at all major events with more than 30,000 patrons.

“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,” Merlino said.

“Masks are a cheap and effective way to maintain the health of the community – it’s something public health experts have been calling for.”

Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, said he had acted in accordance with the advice received by the federal government from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).

“Masks will help keep businesses open and they massively reduce the risk of transmission,” Sutton said.

“The modelling that the commonwealth received from AHPPC tells us that the risks of not acting far outweigh the risks of acting. So the modelling also tells us that people wearing masks will significantly reduce the pressure on our hospitals and keep people safe.”

The prime minister has stopped short of calling for a national mask mandate over the Christmas period, despite health advice to make them compulsory indoors.

The NSW premier has also resisted calls to introduce indoor mask mandates.

Medical bodies, including the Australian Medical Association and Professional Pharmacists Australia, had urged national cabinet to reinstate some public health measures, including masks indoors.

Merlino said further lockdowns were not on the table because Victoria was in a strong position due to its high rates of vaccination.

The government will pour an extra $31m into helping the commonwealth booster program while awaiting advice on reducing the third dose interval from the expert immunisation panel.

Wednesday’s national cabinet meeting heard advice from federal health officials that “highly recommended” wearing masks indoors and other places where social distancing was difficult.

But the nation’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said it was up to states and territories as to whether they would achieve that through mandates.

Morrison said mask-wearing was a personal choice.

“Wear a mask in an indoor setting. You don’t need to be forced to do it,” he said. “There’s no confusion about it, just wear one.

“Think of Christmas Day when you’re going to see elderly relatives and wear a mask – it’s pretty simple.”

Victoria recorded 2,005 new Covid cases and 10 deaths on Thursday, the first time the state’s daily count has been above 2,000 since late October.

There was a jump in case numbers across the eastern states, with NSW recording 5,715.

Queensland’s daily Covid numbers also jumped substantially with 369 new infections recorded, up from 186 the previous day.

The jump in numbers came as Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, flagged changes to the state’s regime for travellers arriving from interstate hotspots, but not in time for Christmas.

Currently, those wanting to come to Queensland must get a negative PCR test result in the 72 hours before arriving, but waiting times at testing clinics around the country are very long.

“We had a great national cabinet meeting yesterday, we’re talking about those rapid tests … we’re looking at bringing those in on the first of January,” Palaszczuk said on the Gold Coast on Thursday.

Arrivals from NSW, Victoria and the ACT are increasing by “about 30,000” a day”, she said.

The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, said it was a matter for states and territories to introduce mask mandates.

“We’re encouraging people, as a result of the advice to national cabinet, to use masks in indoor settings,” he said.

“It’s a matter for states and territories. But states and territories with their public health orders, whether it’s the QR codes in New South Wales, the masks in Victoria, have responded well. And I think it’s important for me to acknowledge that.

“And where national cabinet has led to a positive approach with regards to what are called public health and social measures, or basically the way in which people interact with each other, so they’re safer, but they’re still able to get on with their lives, I think that’s a very important show that national cabinet is delivering safer outcomes, but without constraining people’s lives.”

Meanwhile, residents of Perth and the Peel region in WA will be required to wear face masks at indoor venues during the Christmas period after an unvaccinated French backpacker who attended more than a dozen venues tested positive to Covid.

The mask requirement will apply to all public indoor venues, including shopping centres and on public transport, from 6pm on Thursday until at least 6am on 28 December.

It will not apply to home settings including family Christmas Day gatherings or during vigorous outdoor exercise.

High-risk large public events including music festivals will be cancelled and all nightclubs closed, with dancing banned except for during weddings.

But the premier, Mark McGowan, said the state’s high level of vaccination meant Perth and Peel would not go into lockdown as occurred during previous outbreaks.