MASKS are now back and have been mandated for everyone aged eight and over for all indoor non-domestic settings.

The mask changes, excluding private settings, became effective at 11.59pm, Thursday, December 23, 2021.

The changes were announced by acting premier James Merlino, who stated that Victoria will continue to be best placed to combat the new fast paced variant of COVID-19, Omicron, by introducing mandated mask wearing at all indoor venues. 

Masks must also be worn outdoors when moving around, although they can be removed when seated.

Bars and restaurants can continue to serve customers and major events can still go ahead, but patrons must be compliant as mask wearing has been proven to reduce transmission, which helps keep businesses open and reduces pressure on the health system.

Importantly, Victoria has not gone into lockdown, largely due to the public response to vaccinations, with double vaccination rates now at 92.7 per cent.

However, in addition to mandated mask wearing, a third vaccination booster has been strongly recommended, with the State Government expanding its booster program to deliver up to 300,000 vaccination doses a week, over the coming weeks.

These updates have come on the back of health minister Greg Hunt’s announcement yesterday that Australians will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccine booster shots after four months, beginning early 2022, and then a three-month interval from the end of January.

Although not yet mandated in Victoria, Western Australia’s premier, Mark McGowan has mandated a third COVID-19 booster shot for all workers within one month of becoming eligible, in response to the rapid emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

In addition to third booster shots and mask mandates, there are two further important recommendations; The first is that where possible, workers are to take advantage of the festive season and work from home; Secondly, hospitality venues should stick to seated service and patrons should save their dance moves for dance floors outdoors in well-ventilated venues; Further, when outdoors, if you can’t safely distance, you should always have the option of putting on a mask but in terms of obligation, work on the basis that if it is a non-domestic setting – you should be wearing a mask.

Southern Grampians Shire Council mayor, Bruach Colliton wasn’t surprised by the announcement, and given the considerable uptake by shire residents doing the right thing and getting vaccinated, was confident people would continue to be compliant.

As the owner of a local hospitality venue, Roxburgh House, Mr Colliton stated he didn’t feel the return of mask mandates for hospitality venues would have much of an impact on visitation.

“It’s not a big deal, most patrons are happy to comply and are still wearing masks when dining in anyway, with or without mandates,” he said.

An important distinction between mandates and recommendations was that with recommendations, mask wearing usually only has around 50 per cent compliance, whereas with a mandate, there was closer to 95 per cent compliance.

The Commonwealth has been responsible for the third dose rollout in private residential aged care, however, the Victorian

Government is also fast-tracking booster shots to aged care residents, aiming to have every resident in Victoria’s public aged care facilities offered shot a booster by Christmas Day.

The Western District Health Service (WDHS) completed another round of boosters in its aged care facilities in recent weeks, so all of the residents who have consented to a booster will have received one.

The massive scale-up will support a significant expansion of state-run vaccination centres, as well as rapid recruitment and training of new workers.

Health minister Martin Foley said one of the Federal Government’s top priorities now was the kids’ vaccination program for 5-11-year-olds, describing it as the bedrock of vaccination measures beginning in January 2022.

 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines can be booked for 5-11-year-olds at local GP clinics and pharmacies by visiting covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/booking.

WDHS will roll out booster vaccines throughout January to people 18-years-and-older who have had their second (or primary) dose of COVID-19 vaccination at least five months ago.

Dates and times for WDHS 2022 Vaccination Clinics at Frances Hewett Community Centre:

- Wednesday, January 5, 9am-4pm.

- Thursday, January 6, 9am-4pm.

- Tuesday, January 11, 9am-4pm.

- Wednesday, January 12, 9am-4pm.

- Thursday, January 13, 9am-4pm.

- Wednesday, January 19, 9am-4pm.

To book please visit portal.cvms.vic.gov.au/ or call 1800 675 398.

There are now a total of six cases in Hamilton, with the one new case reported on Friday being a close contact of an already known case.

Victoria was notified of 2095 new cases of COVID-19 reported Friday and sadly there were eight deaths.

There were also 5612 new cases reported in NSW on Friday – the second day in a row over 5000.

The State of Emergency in Victoria ended at 11.59pm on December 15, 2021 with no current indication it will be extended.

For more information regarding booster shots visit health.gov.au/.../getting-your.../booster-doses.