Queensland's Chief Health Officer says there is "increasing pressure" nationally to return a mask mandate.
There were 34,931 new COVID cases reported in the past 24 hours and COVID-related deaths across the nation had steadily increased over recent months, with the daily death count reaching its highest level since February.
Queensland's CHO John Gerrard told 4BC radio that the return of mask mandates was being "discussed" with his counterparts from other states.
Dr Gerrard told the ABC on Saturday that "we are continually reviewing all aspects of our pandemic response including the potential need for mask mandates in different settings".
"At this stage, no changes are being made," he said.
But Dr Gerrard said he would personally prefer to wind back public health mandates.
"We want to move away from restrictions, towards more self-regulation and self-responsibility – that means being up-to-date with your vaccines," he said.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the progression of COVID-19 was "very concerning".
"In terms of masks, we haven't received any health advice about that at this point at the federal level. Those decisions do tend to be made by state governments," he said.
"I know this is something that health officials have been discussing nationally but we haven't received any advice on that at this point."
Third COVID wave putting pressure on hospitals
Currently 3,272 COVID patients are in hospitals across Australia, according to figures reported so far on Saturday.
Authorities have warned of a third COVID-19 wave, driven by two new variants BA.4 and BA.5, which was expected to put pressure on the health system.
Earlier this week, Dr Gerrard said we were entering a "different phase" of the pandemic.
"There will be ongoing waves with new variants going on for months, or even years, and the era of public health directions is coming to an end," he said.
Dr Gerrard said people over the age of 65, and those who are immunocompromised, should get a fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as it prevents severe illness and hospital admission.
"I really am concerned that almost all the patients we're seeing in hospital are not up to date [with their vaccination], they're mostly people over the age of 65," he said.
"This variant is particularly nasty in so far as it can evade immunity, whether it's through vaccine or through natural infection."
Dr Gerrard said while he does not necessarily support the return of restrictions, he is concerned about the upcoming wave.
"It could well be a similar number of patients or even more as in that first wave, in the coming weeks, because we're heading into winter."
The ABC contacted Queensland Health for comment on whether it was seriously considering reinstating the mask mandate.
"The Chief Health Officer regularly meets with his colleagues and other key stakeholders to discuss public health measures as part of the response to COVID-19," a department spokesperson said.
"Any changes to existing measures will be communicated to the public."
