Dr Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Health spokesperson
Today’s 2,472 Covid case count is another record high, and Tasmania now has almost 12,000 active cases.
While the Gutwein Liberals cling to the number of people admitted to hospital as their measure of concern, over a thousand Tasmanians are registered with Covid@Home.
On every metric, Tasmania’s Covid situation has got worse since the Liberals dropped mask protections.
Research tells us a large number of the 87,000 Tasmanians who have been infected with Covid will experience long Covid, and potentially serious ongoing health impacts. It is unacceptable to call Covid ‘mild’ and not require simple public health precautions to limit the spread of infection.
Covid is an airborne virus, and mask wearing protects everyone. It reduces the viral load in the air. There’s a reason Public Health still maintain that mask wearing is recommended.
The Gutwein Government should be doing everything it can to prevent deaths and escalating infections. We know from seatbelts and helmet wearing, that without a government mandate, a signal is sent that it is okay to skip the slight inconvenience.
Premier Gutwein promised he would bring back mask protections if things got worse. Well here we are, Covid infections are as bad as they have ever been in Tasmania.
The time to bring back masks is now.