People not wearing masks are like drunk drivers risking lives, expert says

People choosing not to wear masks in indoor settings are like drunk drivers risking lives by spreading Covid-19, according to epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker.

The comments come after a mask audit by Stuff shows about half of adults are not wearing masks in indoor places where they are required – on buses, in malls and in pharmacies.

The count was held in Whangārei and central Auckland, and showed mask use was lowest in a Whangārei indoor mall – where 73% of 131 customers observed in a 30-minute period had no mask.

About 18,000 Kiwis with mask exemptions – approximately 0.5% of the adult population.

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On July 14, the Government announced it would provide free masks and rapid antigen tests (RATs), and made a plea for people to use them as the Covid-19 outbreak grows.

On Sunday, there were 5535 new community cases of Covid-19, 720 people in hospital with the virus and 14 more deaths. The seven-day rolling average of community cases was 8563.

Baker, a professor of public health at Otago University (Wellington), said these numbers would not be as high if everyone wore masks and stayed home when they were unwell.

“No one likes masks – of course, we would prefer that we wouldn’t have to wear them – but we have to because it’s almost the last tool we’ve got to stop transmission in New Zealand.”

The rising case numbers of Covid-19 in New Zealand is resulting in increasing numbers of people in hospital with the virus, Baker said.

While most people do not need intensive care due to improvements in treatment, any hospitalisation displaces other hospital procedures.

Deaths linked to the virus are also rising, and could add 15% to New Zealand’s standard mortality rate within a year, he said.

Cases of long Covid, including instances of people with long-term disability, will also rise, Baker said.

“If people isolated perfectly and wore masks perfectly, the pandemic would stop. If everyone did them well, the pandemic would stop or would trickle along at a very low rate,” he said.

For this reason, Baker compared not wearing masks to drink-driving – which not only faces stiff legal penalties but is socially unacceptable.

“The correct metaphor is drink-driving: it can endanger you, your family in the car with you and unknown people that you collide with.”

Everyone needed to do their part to make mask-wearing the acceptable norm, Baker said, including the Government campaigning about the severe threat of Covid-19 and the effectiveness of masks.

“Of course they work: healthcare workers wearing masks work with people with Covid-19 and other infections day after day, and they don’t get sick.”

Baker said in places where masks can’t be worn, such as hospitality businesses where people are eating and drinking, there needs to be good ventilation.

Stuff counted the number of adults not wearing a mask in three indoor settings, over 30 minutes on a weekday, in both Whangārei and Auckland CBD.

In Whangārei, nine people or 30% were not wearing a mask in a pharmacy, 95 people or 73% not wearing a mask in an indoor mall and 22 people or 46% were not wearing a mask on buses, including some drivers.

One driver put their mask on to drive, but had no mask while passengers were getting on.

In Auckland CBD, three people or 38% were not wearing masks in a pharmacy, 52 people or 38% not wearing masks in a mall and three people or 23% not wearing masks at a bus stop.

Baker said the figures showed a clearer picture of mask use than the Ministry of Health had.

On Tuesday, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said he saw high compliance of the mask rules where he was and surveys showed high awareness of the rules.

– Additional reporting by Mildred Armah