The national cabinet discussed reducing the isolation of COVID-19 from seven days to five when it met on Saturday, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the clear medical advice is that “it is certainly not the time.” that infections continue to rise in Australia.
NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet suggested last week that the seven-day isolation requirement should be reduced to five days, though not during the current winter hike in cases.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has left the door open to a future cut in the length of the isolation period. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
However, Albanese has left the door open to a future cut in the length of the isolation period, telling Adelaide 5AA radio station that during Saturday’s national cabinet meeting, “we [state and federal leaders] had this discussion and the advice there of the medical director, professor [Paul] Kelly, now is not the time to reconsider. “
“This is something that health officials will continue to look at,” he said.
“But given the increase in the spread of the COVID virus in recent times, we will see that it will continue, it is expected to reach its maximum in the coming weeks, now is not the time to change the existing arrangements.”
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Albanese also defended his government’s decision to reverse and restore the $ 750 pandemic isolation payment, noting that the decision to end the payment had been made by the Morrison government.
“What we did was inherit that decision [to end the payment on June 30].
“When we received the advice of the chief physician and other health officials, which I received on Friday, we acted very quickly to convene a meeting of the national cabinet and I am glad that all prime ministers and prime ministers agreed with the proposal, to restore it, limited until September 30 ”.