Eskleigh Foundation chief executive Dan Lowe said although his facilities were COVID-free among residents, they were starting to see escalating staff absenteeism this week.

Mr Lowe said both state and federal governments had "failed and been remiss" in their easing of mask mandates, which he argued had made staffing issues harder to manage.

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In line with the healthcare sector, he said Eskleigh had maintained a strict mask mandate within the facility to mitigate the risk of exposure, but staff absences had now become their biggest issue.

As the state's COVID-19 case numbers continue to grow, Mr Lowe said he predicted it would "significantly impact the whole economy at some point" shortly if mandates were not reintroduced.

Health and Community Services Union Tasmania assistant secretary Lucas Digney said a lack of clear mask mandates had impacted the wider care sector, with members across aged care, disability care and public health complaining of staff shortages due to COVID.

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"Members have told us that they'd like to see more consistent measures and messaging from the government," Mr Digney said.

"What we're seeing at the minute is a real jumble of messaging. But I think the numbers clearly tell the story - the mask mandate ended and the case numbers began to spike".

But Tasmanian Hospitality Association president Ben Carpenter said in a statement on Friday that introducing a mandate would be "a severe blow to a hospitality industry still striving to recover".

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Mr Carpenter said the THA fully endorsed voluntary mask wearing and mandates in healthcare environments, but re-introducing mask mandates to the hospitality sector would be crippling.

"When the last mask mandate was introduced...it had a massive effect, with businesses across the state reporting mass cancellations leading up to their traditionally busy Christmas periods".

Deputy director of public health Dr Julie Graham said on Friday mandates would not address the high rates of community transmission the state was experiencing and reiterated health measures such as getting vaccinated, and isolating when sick, as enough to reduce the spread.

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Asked if the government would implement a mask mandate if a certain threshold of cases were detected in the community, Dr Graham said the impact on businesses, health services, and overall case numbers would continue to be monitored.

"We are strongly recommending that you implement mask wearing as one of the number of measures that businesses can do as part of their business continuity, as part of their risk assessment, and for individuals as part of keeping themselves and others protected," Dr Graham said.

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