I reckon I was the first person from Victoria to go to NSW after the Victorian lockdown. I did it at the end of the lockdown via 15 day quarantine in Canberra. It was a shock to realise how my mindset was so different to everyone around me when I arrived in Sydney.

My Sydney friends said I was a bit strange when I arrived, and compared to them I was. Part of this was a product of isolation and an over-reaction, but most of it was to do with a changed mindset the outbreak and the lockdown rules, like compulsory masks, in Melbourne created.

I behaved like the coronavirus was around us, automatically physically distancing and avoided crowds and wore a mask. My friend said to me, “There is no Covid in Sydney”, and I guess he was right.

People behaved accordingly:

- Very low mask wearing, even on public transport
- QR system a mess and loosely enforced
- Physical distancing at venues not treated seriously
- Public crowding in shopping centres and other venues and no effort to encourage distancing or masks

The problem is, there now IS Covid in Sydney and the mindset for too many people hasn’t changed and it needs really fast. It cant be left to every individual to go through the thinking process, make choices to change individual behaviour – they may not or it will take too long.

Public health messaging asking people to change is undermined when the Government will not make even mask wearing compulsory. How can mask wearing be that important if the Government doesn’t make it mandatory?

The quickest way to change mindset is compulsory mask wearing.

And when everyone around you wears a mask it becomes normal. It is a constant reminder that the virus is here and around us, so you act accordingly.

It is very frustrating to know this - clear lessons of what works that are ignored.