Melbourne freedom protesters test positive for COVID-19, one in hospital – The Age

I think in fairness to people too, a lot of people might still just have an asymptomatic infection. And thats the worry if theyre potentially exposing other vulnerable members of their own family.

She said there was an increased risk of acquiring an infection at freedom protests given they bring large groups of people together who are more likely to be unvaccinated. The hospitalisation of one of the unvaccinated attendees highlighted the risk.

Outdoors is safer, but its not as safe as we like to think if youre all crowded, if its not a particularly breezy day, and youre not wearing masks.

It just shows that when you have a large number of cases, people that dont fit the profile that most people have in their head which is someone whos very elderly or someone whos got all these other you know comorbidities that it actually can impact anybody, she said.

While the protests have been held outside, the fact that most people dont wear masks and are closely packed together increases the risk of infection, Professor Bennett said.

If you cant keep your distance from people ... if youre mixing very closely with other people, particularly when youre crowding around listening to someone making a speech, if its not a very breezy day, if youre not wearing masks, all those things we know with Delta can lend themself to outdoor transmission, she said.

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And if people are calling out and cheering, you just add to that possibility ... They only have to stay there for a minute.

Police say 20,000 attended the most recent protest on Saturday, with the group marching through the CBD to condemn vaccine mandates, pandemic legislation and other health measures introduced by the Andrews government.

More protest action is planned for this week, with a march from Parliament to Flinders Street Station planned for Saturday, and a convoy from Melbourne to Ballarat, where a rally is planned for Sunday.

On Monday morning, people were camped outside Parliament House giving haircuts to people regardless of their vaccination status as part of a protest against the vaccinate mandate. Currently, Victorians must be fully vaccinated to attend a hairdresser or beauty service.

Victoria recorded 1007 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and three deaths, as health authorities investigated a suspected case of the Omicron strain of coronavirus.

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Melbourne freedom protesters test positive for COVID-19, one in hospital - The Age