Passengers and staff on commercial recreational and tourist vehicles, including tour buses, will no longer be required to wear masks, with the McGowan Government announcing an easing of mask mandates for this sector.
Latest health advice recommends removing the mask mandate for commercial leisure vehicles from 12.01am Thursday, 7 July 2022, in line with other jurisdictions, as WA’s COVID-19 soft landing continues.
Mask mandates continue for public transport, including trains and buses, however, Chief Health Officer (CHO) Andy Robertson has advised retaining mask mandates for tourism vehicles is no longer necessary as these passengers spend time in close proximity to each other without masks when off the bus.
This will assist Western Australian tourism businesses to continue their recovery under Reconnect WA, as our soft-landing through the Omicron outbreak continues.
Masks continue to be mandated at high-risk settings including hospitals and residential aged care facilities, based on health advice.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“The tourism industry is one of our most important employers and the McGowan Government is doing everything it can to assist businesses through the Reconnect WA strategy.
“We continue our Omicron soft landing and, in line with other jurisdictions, can now safely remove the mask mandate for commercial recreational and tourist vehicles to further support the tourism sector.
“Importantly, mask mandates continue on public transport and in health care and residential aged care settings to protect our most vulnerable.”
As stated by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson:
“Masks are an important public health tool as they can limit the spread of respiratory conditions where people are mixing and unable to physically distance and we continue to use them in high-risk settings.
“We know tour bus passengers already spend time together in close proximity without masks, for example inside restaurants or wineries, and the CHO has now advised mask wearing on tourist vehicles does not need to continue.
“I’d like to thank all Western Australians for their co-operation throughout this outbreak. Together we have kept hospitalisations and ICU admission rates far down on what was predicted.”
