While the coronavirus has taught us many things - how to work from home, complete 1000-piece puzzles and make sourdough - health officials are hopeful public health tactics have become a part of social fabric.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In recent weeks, the effectiveness of face masks have been analysed and their necessity in outdoor and indoor settings have come under the microscope.
Bendigo Health's deputy chief medical officer Casey Nottage said wearing masks along with hand hygiene, social distancing and other public health messages have all contributed equally to stopping the spread of coronavirus skyrocket to levels seen in the United Kingdom and India.
READ MORE:
"Last year, we did a suite of things to lower transmission rates and it's tricky to put masks out on their own and say they were the most effective," Dr Nottage said.
"Masks are part of the broader picture of transmission reduction including social distancing, hand hygiene, good ventilation and others.
"When we look at just one of these parts, it won't work on it's own, but when a whole suite of things come into action, that's when there's reduction.
"If we didn't have the other tactics, masks wouldn't have been enough on their own. But at the same time it's artificial to think we could have done without masks."
In regional Victoria, face masks are mandatory indoors while outdoors they are only required where social distancing is not an option.
Some central Victorians have taken to wearing face masks in their everyday lives no matter the state's chief health officer's orders while other begrudgingly don them only when required.
"It's hard to predict whether people will want to be wearing masks by choice in future," Dr Nottage said. "Eighteen months ago I couldn't have predicted we'd be here.
"There has been a change in people's behaviours due to the pandemic and some people will wear masks while others ask why.
I think broadly the people of central Victoria are community-minded and want to do what's best to stop the spread of coronavirus.
- Dr Casey Nottage
As someone who's on the frontline in the fight against coronavirus, Dr Nottage has enjoyed seeing the uptake of public health measures but the community, and would love to see them continue.
"I'd love to see hand hygiene stay, it's a key staple of public health prevention not just for corona, but other viruses as well," she said.
"It should be a daily and ongoing habit and I'm a strong advocate for it as it has such a broad benefit.
"Hand hygiene and social distancing have a part to play. Even before coronavirus, social distancing was not possible in high density areas but we've seen how easy it is to simply spread out.
"I think public health is much more ingrained in our community now."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter @BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram @bendigoadvertiser
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Google News
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.