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Victorian parents are waking to new mask advice this week, as states around the country fight to come to grips with the new wave of COVID-19.
Although the Victorian government has rejected the notion of a renewed mask mandate, parents have been issued a letter signed by the heads of public, independent, and Catholic schools in the state, asking for face masks to be worn indoors.
"We're asking all students aged eight and over and staff to wear masks when in class from now to the end of winter. Children won't be required to wear masks when their are outdoors," the letter reads.
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Parents have been calling it a mandate by stealth.
New South Wales is prioritising a different aspect of COVID-19 management as its schools return, with nine million rapid antigen kits to be handed out in the next four weeks.
It comes amid concern over the current isolation rules, which state Premier Dominic Perrottet has said should be reconsidered when summer arrives.
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He is pushing for health authorities to look at reducing the current mandatory seven-day isolation rule for COVID-19 diagnosis, following the federal government's reinstatement of pandemic leave payments.
COVID-19 hospitalisations meanwhile are at an all-time high in Queensland, with Health Minister Yvette D'Ath saying modelling failed to predict the severity of the current wave.
Nearly 900 people with the disease have been admitted to hospital – but intensive care admissions are down, which health experts attribute to high vaccination levels.
Nonetheless, the virus is also pushing staffing levels to the brink, with close to 3000 – or seven to eight per cent of the workforce – off sick.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is resisting the return of a mask mandate, though she has advised teachers and students to wear them at school, and for people to go masked at the upcoming Ekka.
And South Australian leaders will hold an emergency meeting today as the state battles new Omicron COVID variants.
The use of face masks and strain on the hospital system will be on the agenda as the state tallies a record number of people in hospital.
Source: 9News
