DESPITE Victoria recording a second straight day of zero new active coronavirus cases, mandatory mask wearing remains.
But Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton on Sunday said the state would eventually transition from mask wear at all times, to indoors-only or possibly at high-risk settings.That will come as some relief to Mildura residents with many concerned about having to wear masks in north-west Victoria’s blistering summer heat.
Prof Sutton did not detail when the mask rules would change, saying it would be announced “at the appropriate time”.
“If there’s no transmission at all, masks are not a requirement,” Prof Sutton said.”What we shouldn’t be complacent about is if we’ve got a few days with no cases that there’s never a requirement for masks.
“Country Victoria went for a few weeks with no cases but all the people of Shepparton I’m sure were very happy they were all wearing masks at the time there were three active cases out in the community for over a week before we understood they were active cases.
“Masks are important for those potential transmission events when we don’t know that there’s something out there.”
Victoria’s second straight day without any fresh cases or deaths came after the state also recorded no new infections on Saturday with an expert panel ruling one case a false positive.
“Another very good day for Victoria,” Deputy Premier James Merlino said.
“This is really a result of the outstanding efforts of all Victorians in getting these cases down to the state at which they are.”
Sunday’s statistics coincide with Melbourne’s gradual emergence from strict lockdown conditions, including a possible return to city offices before Christmas.
There is one mystery case of coronavirus without a known source in Melbourne and the city’s average daily case count for the fortnight up to Saturday was 2.2.
It means the state’s COVID-19 death toll remains at 819, and 907 for the nation.
There are just 61 active cases left across the state, down from 70 on Saturday.
Prof Sutton said Victoria could be down to “a couple of dozen” active cases by next week.
“You’ll see 10 or more come off each day and we’ll get down to very few active cases,” he said.
He said metropolitan Melbourne was still on track to ease restrictions on November 8 including the scraping of the “ring of steel” dividing the city from the regions, along with the 25km travel limit.
“What allowances come on November 8 will absolutely be informed by what this week looks like,” he said.
He also hinted at possible changes for the hospitality industry at the long-awaited November 8 announcement.
Prof Sutton was optimistic that Victoria would hit the target required for the last step from lockdown.
