Member for Ripon calls for mask change as zero case days continue

As of Monday, there have been no cases or deaths from the virus in Victoria since October 30, and there are only four active cases.

In New South Wales, there had been ten new cases recorded in the week to Saturday.

"We are in a much lower virus load position than New South Wales. Many of those are in hotel quarantine but they do have some community cases," Ms Staley said.

"It seems to me they have managed not to have outbreaks of COVID over many weeks now, and so their level of restrictions are ones we should look to. They have been exactly where we are now."

The shadow treasurer said masks still needed to be worn in places where people could not socially distance, such as at the supermarket.

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"But where people are walking a dog alone, or are outside working alone, I think it's time to say that's not helping anybody anymore," she said.

"New South Wales also runs on the four square metere rule, so if you have larger areas you can have more people. In Victoria there are caps on numbers no matter how big your venue is, and to me that doesn't make sense."

Ms Staley said she felt it was time Victorians "got their lives back" in the interests of their mental health and livelihood.

At his daily coronavirus update on Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews said announcements around masks could be made "in two or three weeks' time".

"I don't think it's too much to ask people to wear masks in all circumstances outside their home right now," he said.

Mr Andrews said the mandatory mask rule was being administered in line with public health advice. He said wearing a mask outside at all times was the "simplest and easiest rule to follow - rules that are simple are always best".

"It's becoming part of our daily routine, I'm not for a moment saying people are happy to be wearing masks but they play a part in keeping numbers low," he said.

"The longer we hold these numbers low, the better the base is as we start to open up more and more. These few weeks and months are precious: If we continue to see numbers that are very low, we can be confident that while we will see some cases in the future they will be fewer and they will be managed with a greater degree of certainty as we go into 2021."

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