DO PEOPLE IN NSW NEED TO WEAR A FACE MASK? HERE’S AN EXPERT ADVICE.

A WORD FROM AN EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ADVISER

Wearing a face mask will be mandatory in the Mitchell Shire and Melbourne from Wednesday midnight. People in NSW are wondering whether it will be mandatory in their state as well. This question is obvious given the fact that NSW is probably on the verge of the second wave. Clusters have been identified in regional towns of Picton and Bateman’s Bay as well as Casula, Wetherill Park and Harris Park; all are suburbs of Campbelltown. 

 

Professor Mary-Louse McLaws, who is a Professor of Epidemiology of Hospital Infection and Infectious Diseases Control at the University of New South Wales said that the short answer to whether NSW people should strap on masks is yes. She also noted that the numbers would rise soon. She said “We, in NSW, are at a level where [the numbers] are going to start to accelerate. Human resources are such that it may not be able to keep up with the contact tracing that’s needed. Every case has about 10 cases. And that’s a lot of work.”

 

Nick Coatsworth, Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said that making face mask use mandatory was easier said than done. He said “Mandating mask use … sounds like a very easy and straightforward policy to implement, but if you mandate something, you have to enforce it, you have to give people fines, you have to ensure that the supply of masks is adequate. For those reasons, we’re encouraging mask use in NSW at the moment on public transport where you can’t socially distance, where the community transmission is increasing.”

 

Dr Coatsworth also stated that wearing a face mask didn’t ensure that a person won’t catch the infection. He said, “We want Australians to be absolutely clear that their primary mechanism of defence against COVID-19 is distance — physical distance, getting themselves tested when they’re unwell and supporting our contact tracers.”

 

Professor McLaws stated that there was overwhelming evidence which made it clear that face coverings of any kind, even balaclavas can help in reducing the spread of the deadly virus. She said “They do work. Some of the new studies show that some three-layered fabrics give you up to 70 per cent protection. So if everybody is wearing them, that’s doubling your effectiveness really.”

 

Professor McLaws is particularly concerned about the fact that the number of active cases was 94. She said if it reaches 100, the NSW authorities might not be able to trace the contacts of an infected person. 

 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian spoke on the face mask issue on Monday and said she believed it was a “personal choice” as they have not been termed as a necessity by the health authorities. 

 

NSW Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant also said that a face mask was “prudent” for situations where social distancing was impossible for some reasons. She said that face masks are complementary and should be used in conjunction with other measures like testing and social distancing, especially if you are unwell. 

 

We think the government should consider a face mask as a vital tool to control the rising coronavirus cases until we successfully find a coronavirus cure. Don’t you agree?