News
Face mask requirements in private practice
At 6pm on Friday 4 March 2022, updates were made to the Public Health Requirements for Face mask Direction (No.5). The direction changes include the easing of face mask restrictions and outline the places or scenarios where face masks are still mandatory. These include:
- hospitals, other healthcare settings where face-to-face services are provided to patients, clients and others accessing healthcare will still require face masks;
- vulnerable facilities, public transport vehicles/infrastructure and corrective services;
- specific parts of a shared space where healthcare is provided within part of an indoor space that is primarily accessed by people for purposes other than healthcare - for example, where a physiotherapist operates within a gym, the restriction applies to the space where the physiotherapist is providing the face-to-face services, but not to the other spaces in the gym;
- allows a person to remove their face mask while performing disaster recovery and clean-up activities, unless the person is a close contact who is a critically essential worker (who must still follow the requirements of the Isolation for Diagnosed Cases of COVID-19 and Management of Close Contacts Direction (No.5)); and
- does not change the existing mandatory face mask requirements for airports and on flights.