From Friday evening, Canberrans will no longer have to wear masks in most places, the ACT Government announced today. But don’t throw away your mask just yet, advised Rachel Stephen-Smith, ACT Minister for Health.
Masks will only be mandatory in high-risk settings, including early childhood education and care, schools, aged care facilities, hospitals and health settings, on public transport, and at the airport.
Ms Stephen-Smith encouraged people to wear face masks if they are indoors and cannot maintain their physical distance.
Dr Kerryn Coleman, ACT Chief Health Officer, hoped most people were comfortable wearing masks and more likely to wear it indoors, “to help make themselves and others feel more comfortable”.
“If I’m going to a restaurant or a café or even the supermarket, I will have my mask on while I’m not sitting down comfortably, eating,” she said.
“I encourage everyone to think about when your greatest risks are both to yourself as well as to others, and just pop that mask on. we know how to do it now.”
If there is another case of COVID, masks could be made mandatory again, Dr Coleman said. Flu is expected to return in winter, for the first time in two years, too.
“We really need to be prepared for what comes next. We may see a new variant or another unexpected development. The pandemic continues to throw things at us. So we need to stay on our toes. But we are learning how to adapt our responses and live with COVID.”
Case numbers have steadied, as Dr Coleman hoped to see following January’s big peak of omicron cases.
946 new cases were reported in today’s weekly update, following relatively low numbers for a couple of days, and reported case numbers increased by 11 per cent in the last week.
Most of these were in the 5- to 11-year-old and 12- to 17-year-old age groups, and reflected schools going back, Dr Coleman said. Schools have provided RATs, so more people are testing than otherwise would. More than 200 ANU students have also tested positive for COVID.
But hospital numbers are staying down, and continuing to decrease, Dr Coleman said. There were only 10 new hospitalizations this week, compared to 23 the week before, and only about 40 people per day are in hospital.
“While none of us like to see anybody in hospital, that is a significant reduction compared to what we’re seeing in January,” she said.
“The numbers that we’re seeing now are what we might expect to see as a baseline over the next couple of months. Case numbers will rise and fall as there is more movement, more testing, and as people go about their everyday lives.”
Dr Coleman encouraged people to maintain COVID-smart behaviours: “Wash your hands, wear masks when you’re indoors, and check in where you’re required to.”
Get tested if you are symptomatic, a household contact, had a high risk exposure, or are vulnerable to severe disease.
Those who have not had their booster shot should walk into the AIS clinic and get it. Protection from the vaccine wanes after four months, but the booster returns 90 to 95 per cent of that full protection, Dr Coleman said.
The Canberra business community has welcomed the easing of mask restrictions.
“Our members have consistently told us that heat directions mandating mask wearing do directly impact businesses, in retail hospitality and other areas,” said Graham Catt, CEO of the Canberra Business Chamber. “They can keep customers away, reduce casual browsing, and translate into lost sales. In other settings, such as offices, there can be confusion about when masks are and aren’t required, and the guidance for managers can seem quite contradictory.
“It would seem that given current risks, the evidence suggests that masks aren’t required. Businesses will welcome this further easing of restrictions – and alignment with all other Eastern states – as a another sensible step forward for the ACT.”
