The Premier has announced that COVID masks lost their tickets on public transport last week with travellers no longer required to wear them.
Acting on the advice from Acting Chief Public Health Officer, Dr Chris Lease, Premier Peter Malinauskas said removing masks on public transport was another step towards a post-pandemic future.
Mr Malinauskas said Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory had already removed their mask mandates on public transport, which aligned with recent decisions to remove masks from domestic and international airline travel.
“The requirement for masks to be worn on public transport in South Australia has been in place since July 2021,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“People who wish to wear masks on public transport are able to continue to do so.”
The Premier said the State also released its restrictions on visitors to residential aged care facilities.
“Visitors will no longer have to be vaccinated and there will no longer be a cap on the number of visitors if less than 70 per cent of residents are vaccinated,” he said.
“QR codes will no longer be required at hospitals, disability care facilities and health care settings.”
Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Chris Picton said that in the week before the masks went, the average number of COVID-related cases per day was 480, a number significantly down on the daily case numbers in the thousands seen a few weeks ago.
“This fall in case numbers presents us with the opportunity to ease restrictions even further,” Mr Picton said.
Accepting the change, Adelaide Metro said the removal requirement applied to passenger transport that included buses, trains, trams, taxis, rideshare and other hire or charter vehicle arrangements.
“Please always be respectful of those who choose to wear a mask” it said.
“Masks continue to provide an extra layer of protection from catching and spreading COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses”.
