Victorians warned we’re ‘heading into an emergency’

An infectious diseases expert says Victoria is “heading into an emergency for the rest of winter” as COVID-19 cases rise, putting more and more pressure on the strained healthcare system.

Associate Principal Research Fellow at the Burnet Institute, Michael Toole, says the Health Minister’s admission that she has rejected advice from the acting chief health officer to reintroduce mask mandates in some settings was “unsettling”.

“Taking the advice of industry over the health advice was inappropriate,” he told Neil Mitchell.

Professor Toole says the state is heading into an emergency, and mask-wearing can help.

“We’re approaching the same number of people in hospital as back in January, in fact NSW has already reached that point and Victoria is not far behind,” he said.

“We should be doing everything we can to reduce that burden on the healthcare system without clearly disrupting the economy, and I don’t believe mask-wearing disrupts the economy.”

Press PLAY below to hear why Professor Tool thinks we’re on the verge of an emergency + what we can do to mitigate the risk

https://www.3aw.com.au/ross-blasts-the-health-minister-for-rejecting-health-advice/