Coronavirus, Face Masks

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (14:25): Further supplementary arising from the original answer: minister, given that—and it's only one media report from Dr Norman Swan this week on the ABC—the estimates of South Australians doing properly public social distancing is only about 40 per cent, and we require about 80 per cent of the community to do so for effective response, is the minister or his advisory team considering not mandating but recommending the use of the lower level face masks in the community as a precaution?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:26): I thank the honourable member for his question, and I really appreciate it as an opportunity to highlight the importance of people maintaining adherence to public health measures. The key measures are such as maintaining a distance of 1.5 metres from other people, maintaining good cough etiquette by coughing into one's elbow, washing one's hands, etc.

The honourable member refers to a report in the ABC, which I am not aware of, but it would be fair to say that SA Health and our public health team is concerned about a lower level of compliance with public health advice as the number of cases in South Australia has diminished. The honourable member's second question (it might have been your first supplementary) related to masks.

One of the issues the SA public health team is considering in the context of masks is that masks can give people a false sense of security. People feel as though if they have a mask on, a bit like Superman, 'I don't need to worry about social distancing, I don't need to worry about public health advice.' So in some ways it could actually increase the risk.

The other aspect I suspect Professor Nicola Spurrier would refer to, if she had to give this answer rather than me, is her concern that people wearing masks don't often wear them properly. I suspect these are particularly overseas news reports but in about half the news reports I see depicting somebody wearing a mask you can tell they are not wearing them properly. If you can see your nose above your mask you have somewhat defeated the purpose.

But it is not just the placement—and I appreciate that Greg Hunt had trouble placing a mask recently. It is not just the placement of a mask that matters, it is also how you use it. Let me stress again I am a politician, not a clinician, but my understanding is that touching your mask while you are wearing it diminishes the impact. Masks are not a silver bullet. There is certainly a debate raging around the world about to what extent we should have community-wide advice in relation to masks.

I can assure you that this is something that has been actively considered by Australian public health clinicians. I know it's been discussed at the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. I have heard Professor Spurrier indicate that she understands the decision and supports the decision that's been made in the Victorian context because it is made in the Victorian context. Our context is different, and at this stage—and it will change if public health clinicians feel it needs to—it is not advised that South Australians routinely wear masks in public.