Mandatory masks stopped Melbourne’s second wave ‘almost overnight’
The policy was the critical step that turned around last year's coronavirus outbreak that resulted in a four-month lockdown, say Burnet Institute researchers
The introduction of mandatory masks during Melbourne’s second lockdown turned the coronavirus outbreak around “almost overnight”, new research suggests.
Researchers from the city’s Burnet Institute have measured the impact of the mandatory mask policy, introduced on 22 July last year, on COVID-19 case numbers.
Based on images published in The Age, the proportion of Melburnians wearing masks in public increased from 43% before the mandate was announced to 98% once the measure had been introduced, they reported in PLOS ONE.
This corresponded with a turnaround in case numbers which peaked at 686 cases in one day.
