When you wear a face mask you will soon know how your breath smells to everyone else. 

It would seem to me that wearing masks in areas where the virus is active, with proven community transmission, would be a sensible precaution.  I would think it unnecessary in areas where no active cases are reported.  Surely it would be relatively easy to put a protocol in place where it is publicised when active cases are found in an area, and people in those areas/postcodes be told to wear facial protection - for their own safety if nothing else.  Also businesses in areas where the virus is active, should be allowed to bar people, if not wearing a mask/face covering.

The efficacy of masks remains unproven. They are, at best, anti-social. How do you recognise people, or distinguish from potential criminals? What about those who suffer from claustrophobia? Even masks being retailed fail to seal sufficiently to provide real protection from inhalation. South Australia certainly doesn't need them regardless whether Victoria does or doesn't.

Finally some comments other than those from Sophie !!

As wise as Sophies words are, I've been getting the same things non-stop from my TV. I turn to the comments on LC to read the points of view of others.

Hardly seems good practice, and certainly very annoying, for someone to write a lead item which poses the question 'What do you think .....' then follow it up with endless responses from the original questioner. 

There will always be one!

Yes i think we should all be wearing them, they might actually save your life.

The wearing of face masks and staying at home will be "fundamental" in bringing Victoria's coronavirus crisis under control.

That's according to Australia's Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Coatsworth, who welcomed the tightened health measures.

"We need every little bit of help we can get down in Victoria at the moment to help flatten and bend that curve," Dr Coatsworth told Today.

Dr Coatsworth said it was "legitimate" to ask why health authorities in New South Wales had not followed Victoria by making face coverings mandatory.

....

Why indeed..won't be long now.

Chemists across Australia have sold out of face masks and hand sanitiser amid growing fears that coronavirus is spreading across the nation. 

Australia's largest pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse has no face masks in stock in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, or Darwin. 

Other major chains such as Priceline, Amcal, Star Pharmacy, Blooms The Chemist and a number of independent vendors have either run out or have very few in stock.

ABC.news

Lucca you seem all  knowledgeable, how long should a person wear a mask?  Are they washable?  If so what does one clean them in?  Do you boil the fabric perhaps?

The gloves I wore those eight weeks were disposable.

Are the masks in the chemist the same, disposable?

From 11.59pm on Wednesday every person in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be required to wear a mask, with few exceptions, when they leave home. We are hardly alone. Most countries have initiated some level of recommendation or mandate to wear a mask in public. The Age welcomes the tougher stand.

This simple piece of protective wear has been the centre of heated debate, and not just politically. It has been the subject of much argument in the scientific community as continuing research on how COVID-19 spreads has come to light.

Until recently, the World Health Organisation has been lukewarm in its advocacy of masks for the general public, based on the understanding that the coronavirus spread primarily by large respiratory droplets that once expelled by infected people in coughs and sneezes fell rapidly to the ground.

The WHO was forced to change that view after an open letter from 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined evidence showing that smaller particles can stay airborne for hours and infect people, which clearly strengthens the argument for mask wearing.

While the world health body still states further research is needed, it now accepts that transmission of the virus by small infected particles may have been responsible for “outbreaks of COVID-19 reported in some closed settings, such as restaurants, nightclubs, places of worship or places of work where people may be shouting, talking or singing”. That is a big shift and one that has bolstered the argument for mask use in the general population.

It has been the political stage that has attracted the most headlines, particularly in the United States, which is facing a huge surge in cases in its southern states. While President Donald Trump recently wore a mask in public for the first time, he has used the issue to wage a war of words over the principle of individual freedom, resisting all calls to make masks mandatory.

Thankfully, Australia has mostly been free of political point-scoring on the issue. Masks were not pushed during the early days of the pandemic for good reason. Back then, there was a lack of scientific evidence of their benefit when community transmission levels were low, and a genuine concern that widespread usage would create a shortfall in supply for health workers.

From Wednesday night, by having to wear a mask, everyone will be reminded each time we walk out our front door that we have a part we must play. No excuses, no shirking responsibility. A reminder of the collective health and wellbeing of our community will be right in front of our eyes.

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It amazes me that people think wearing a mask is all they are supposed to do, the CMO said first priority is to stay home, you can shop online and you need to postpone other things if you are in the hot zone.

But we have hardware, clothing and other stores still open, why? I have a friend who works at Bunnings in one of the lockdown areas and he told me Bunnnings are not enforcing social distancing, why?

I fear that people will use the mask as an excuse to get closer to people in public in the false sense that they will be protected. 

And even though they are telling people it is mandatory in Melbourne there is no official law written by the federal government, so legally they cannot fine anyone. 

Not being negative, being real, why are you so obsessed only with masks and never mention social distancing?

Are you living in a hot zone Sophie?

Sydney should follow Melbourne's lead and make it compulsory to wear a mask, despite current health advice, a leading expert says. Mary-Louise McLaws, an epidemiologist and World Health Organization (WHO) adviser, said a similar order should be implemented across the whole of Sydney "within days" to stem the outbreak in NSW.

Professor McLaws helped the WHO evaluate evidence on the efficacy of cloth and fabric masks and said new evidence showed wearing almost "any sort of cloth is better than a bare face".

Professor McLaws said there was overwhelming evidence face coverings of any kind, including balaclavas, reduced the spread of the virus.

"They do work. Some of the new studies show that some three-layered fabrics give you up to 70 per cent protection.

"So if everybody is wearing them, that's doubling your effectiveness really."