Covid is rising again, with a 63% increase in cases in Victoria. New variants are here and restrictions designed to reduce transmission have been removed , and interruptions can be expected again. Note health care workers cannot return to work for 7 days , so if the surgeons are infected we are removed from the workforce affecting our ability to help our patients. A new study from the New England journal of medicine has highlighted that removal of masking instructions in Boston lead to increased spread. The graph below shows cases rose when universal masking was lifted at time points 1, 2 and 3. The blue lines were areas that wore no masks. The grey line shows areas that continued wearing masks and shows a much lower rise in cases. At all health care facilities such as ours we will continue to wear masks to protect ourselves and our patients.
