According to an exclusive tip the prime minister provided his football team, Covid patients would soon have their mandatory isolation time reduced from seven days to five.
Due to a positive Covid test on Saturday, South Sydney hooker Damien Cook was expected to miss Friday’s NRL rivalry game against the Sydney Roosters under the current seven-day isolation rule.
Rabbitohs supporter Anthony Albanese informed the team that the National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday is likely to shorten the isolation time to five days, allowing him to play.
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On Saturday night at Accor Stadium, Mr. Albanese attended South Sydney’s game versus the North Queensland Cowboys.
Dominic Perrottet, the premier of New South Wales, has been the most ardent advocate for the move to shorten the isolation time as the state battles with a labour shortage that is hurting the economy.
It is believed that the premiers of other states concur and will approve the action.
The UK and several other European countries have completely done away with required isolation periods.
Although the Centers for Disease Control in the USA advises a five-day quarantine, patients are no longer required by law to remain at home.
Mr. Perrottet has also advocated that the isolation time should be eliminated, although that seems unlikely at this point.
Australia’s covid isolation regulations
Anyone with a Covid-19 diagnosis must isolate, according to Australian public health regulations.
You must immediately self-isolate for 7 days from the date of your positive test if you test positive for Covid-19 on a fast antigen test or PCR test.
In NSW, there is no need that you test before exiting self-isolation.
You don’t need to isolate yourself if you live with or are in close proximity to someone who has tested positive for Covid-19 and you don’t have any symptoms.
The maximum punishment for an individual is $11,000, six months in jail, or both, with a further $5,500 fine for each each day the offence is allowed to go unpunished.
Health Department of New South Wales,
Australians are still subject to a $11,000 punishment at the present for breaking the seven-day isolation regulations.
As the first Omicron wave gradually sidelined employees, putting pressure on services, companies, and supply chains, the majority of Australian states and territories lowered the required length of isolation from 14 to seven days by the end of the previous year.
Down from 380,000 in late July, more than 150,000 Australians are still listed as active cases throughout the nation and are subject to Covid-19 isolation orders.
It’s too soon to reduce the length of required isolation, according to epidemiologist Adrian Esterman of the University of South Australia.
After five days, “two-thirds of individuals are still contagious,” he told the Associated Press.
Mr. Perrottet, however, said that although Australia’s pandemic response must change as the virus does, support for employees must continue during the time of isolation.
“The (government) should pay them, and I’m not resiling from that view,” he added. “If the state government, federal government, dictate isolation and deprive people of their livelihood.”
At a national cabinet meeting last month, the idea of shortening the isolation time was brought up, but medical professionals opposed it since the BA.4/5 Omicron variant wave was still causing havoc.
On July 18, Mr. Albanese informed Adelaide radio station FIVEaa that the Chief Medical Officer, Professor (Paul) Kelly, had advised against reconsidering the matter at this time.
Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, concurred, saying that while mandated isolation will eventually be eliminated, it wasn’t the “proper thing to do” in the thick of winter.
‘We will consider the advice from AHPPC (Australian Health Protection Principal Committee) on isolation periods and consider any changes they recommend,’ a Victorian government spokesman told AAP.
In the meantime, the addition of the quick-footed Cook will improve Souths’ chances against their most vehement rivals on Friday night at Allianz Stadium in the final round of the regular season.
The two clubs have the most illustrious and possibly fiercest rivalry in the NRL, despite the fact that both teams are expected to advance to the finals and are unable to significantly change their current standings on Friday.
The foundation clubs of the league competition are the clubs that share territory in Sydney’s inner south and east.
Being raised not far from Redfern Oval, South Sydney’s spiritual home, Mr. Albanese has frequently talked about his lifetime commitment to the team.
‘I was raised with three great faiths – the Catholic Church, the Labor party and South Sydney Football Club,’ is a favourite quote of the prime minister.