In order to help eliminate the Coronavirus, Victorians are looking at a permanent lifestyle change for years to come. Face coverings and ongoing restrictions are to become a permanent part of our lives for the foreseeable future - with Dan Andrews now suggesting that “elimination is no longer an option at this point.”
“The endpoint is to lower numbers and get numbers as low as possible so that we can have confidence that we can manage the inevitable outbreaks that will occur, and the inevitable transmission that we will see,’’ Mr. Andrews has said
“But again, if you opened up now … there is no flattening of the curve, there’s no moderate outcome, it takes off like a bushfire, and you’ve got no chance of putting it out.”
Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has backed these statements, confirming that the precautions Victoria has taken are acting as suppression methods, rather than elimination, lasting for years rather than weeks.
“There may be a path that has very, very low case numbers with a kind of baseline level restrictions, universal mark wearing, changed human behaviours very broadly applied across the population that can keep numbers low,” Mr. Sutton said.
“But I think it always comes with the danger that it can re-emerge and take off again.”
He also signalled that wearing face masks will continue to remain as a permanent restriction for the time being, depicting that “Cloth masks worn broadly in the community can have a significant effect’’. Until a vaccine is found for the killer virus, restrictions and face masks will be a permanent feature for daily life. There is no “end game” for Victorians, just suppression methods, helping to reduce the spread.
It’s time we band together and learn to adapt to this new world, visit https://onlyessentials.com.au to help normalise mask wearing. Originally published as Victoria faces years of restrictions