‘Just wear one’: No national mask mandate as leaders discuss move away from PCR travel testing | rachelclun katinacurtis
The country’s leaders say Australians should wear masks indoors, but stopped short of agreeing to mandate their use as coronavirus cases from the new variant continue to climb.
It also agreed to ramp up the booster rollout with Mr Morrison announcing that, from Thursday, the federal government will increase booster payments to GPs and pharmacists by $10 to return them to the same price they were paid for first and second doses. “Think of Christmas Day when you’re going to see elderly relatives, and wear a mask – it’s pretty simple.”to protect the country from the new strain of coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly, who leads the expert group, said it was up to states and territories to decide how to get people to wear masks.
“There is no AHPPC medical expert panel consensus opinion which says you must have a PCR test to travel from one state to another,” he said. “States are the ones imposing those public health orders.”