VICTORIANS will no longer need to wear masks in most indoor settings and elective surgery will resume in the latest easing of restrictions.
Tuesday’s announcement came after a decline in COVID-19 hospital admissions and an increase in booster doses statewide.
From 11.59pm on Friday, masks will no longer be required indoors with the exception of public transport, in hospitals and care facilities, in courts, retail, justice and hospitality workers, or for people who are COVID-19 close contacts, in which case masks must be worn.
After a long halt, elective surgery will resume on Monday across the state, Mildura Base Public Hospital chief executive Terry Welch saying the local hospital was ahead of the game.
“It’s a great vote of confidence in the sector in general that the minister, and through the department, can really initiate elective surgery back,” Mr Welch said.
“For us at Mildura Base Public Hospital, throughout the pandemic we’ve been continuing to do the high-level emergency surgery and last week, as we stood down the code brown (alert), we were able to start commencing elective surgery … we had permission to do that.
“As staffing allows, we can continue to elevate our theatre activity and by the end of this week we expect to be back at business-as-usual levels, which is just tremendous.”
He said over the past fortnight there had been about 25 hospital staff absent each day, a figure that was being closely monitored.
“We think we can continue (elective surgery) with that continuity, but we don’t want that level to get to 45 staff off because that puts the pressure back on.
“We’ll do everything we can now to continue the theatre program. People have had to wait and we never want that, we’ll do everything we can now to get those wait lists down and get the people the surgery they need.
“It’s the screening and what people think is lower in terms of the importance, but (the surgeries) are critically important because that’s when we find out a lot of the issues before they become real issues.”
Mr Welch said he was “extremely proud” of the hospital’s 1100 workers in restarting elective surgery so swiftly and encouraged residents to continue striving towards better vaccination rates.
“We have to continue to have the community getting vaccinated – vaccination rates are still too low, that’s the booster for adults and the vaccination for children,” he said.
“I know there are appointments available and people should be getting that vaccination. That is the key to stopping any further issues and enabling agencies like us in getting back to business as usual and living the lifestyle we want.”
High-school students will also be able remove their masks in school following the government’s announcement.
Students from Year 7 to 12 will not be required to wear a mask, however, primary school students Grade 3 or above are still required to wear masks while at school.
Premier Daniel Andrews said this decision was made due to lagging vaccination rates in children aged 5 to 11.
Rapid testing is still recommended for students twice weekly, with free RAT packs to be handed out for the rest of the term.
A further 60,000 air purifiers would also be distributed to Victorian schools, he said.
On Tuesday, Mildura reported 92 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the active total to 695.
Robinvale recorded three new cases, its active total falling to 39.
Wentworth Shire Council announced Pfizer vaccinations would be on offer for aged-care, disability, childcare and distribution centre workers, along with people with a disability, this week at Wentworth Town Hall.
Run by Vitality Works, the pop-up vaccination clinic will operate on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10.30am to 6pm.
The clinic is also offering a disability drop-in service that runs from 10.30am to noon.
Bookings can be made by calling 1300 662 328 or by emailing bookings.support@vitalityworks.com.au.
More details on the new restrictions will be published at www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au from Friday.
