Health Experts Call For Face Masks To Be Reinstated As Covid Cases And Fatalities Surge

Medical experts are calling for mask mandates to be reinstated amid a surge in Covid cases and influenza across the nation.

It comes as hospitalisations and deaths are tracking upwards across Australia, with the average number of Covid-related daily deaths doubling since March. 

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Burnet Institute chief executive Brendan Crabb said with the country in the middle of an election campaign, Covid is not at the top of the political agenda for the major parties.

Professor Crabb warns the current state of "disconnect" to Covid follows the removal of mask mandates with politicians now firmly planting their "heads in the sand" with dire ramifications.

"Remember, lots of Covid is bad for business," he said. "We can't ignore that. We've been seeing that for months.  

"And as a nation, we're also ignoring the health impact. How many of the 350,000-plus active cases in Australia right now will have chronic impacts? Overseas data suggests 10 per cent of them. And that will impact your heart, impact your lungs, organs, and brain.

“It's not nothing," he urged.

Meanwhile, President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Dr Omar Korshid is concerned we are treating Covid as if it's a cold, with healthcare workers fed up with messaging from politicians that the pandemic was "over".

"But there are still a lot of people coming into hospitals with Covid, and of course there's no staff," he said.

The Victorian branch president of the AMA, Dr Roderick McRae said this week that the peak medical body would support the state government if they were to reinstate some “moderate, but sensible [COVID-19] requirements” such as masks in supermarkets, theatres, and stadiums.

McRae said that “the community needs to decide what’s most important – not prejudicing the public hospital system or going to five football matches over five days a week”.

Meanwhile, Covid cases and hospitalisations across Australia and New Zealand look like this:

Western Australia 

• New cases: 15,674
• Covid-related deaths: 14
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 325 / 11  

Northern Territory 

• New cases: 347
• Covid-related deaths: 0
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 21 / 2

Australian Capital Territory 

• New cases: 1,129   
• Covid-related deaths: 1
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 80 / 5 

Queensland 

• New cases: 6,270
• Covid-related deaths: 12
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 492 / 14

New South Wales 

• New cases: 10,972
• Covid-related deaths: 16
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 1,442 / 59

Victoria 

• New cases: 13,694
• Covid-related deaths: 20 
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 516 / 31

South Australia 

• New cases: 3,773
• Covid-related deaths: 2
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 246 / 7

Tasmania 

• New cases: 1,216
• Covid-related deaths: 1
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 40 / 1

New Zealand 

• New cases: 9,843
• Covid-related deaths: 8
• Hospital and ICU admissions: 421 / 10

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