Australia is lifting mandatory COVID isolation rules from next month, removing one of the last remaining pandemic restrictions.
The current five-day home quarantine requirement for those who test positive for the virus will be lifted from October 14.
Announcing the move, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We want policy that promotes resilience and capacity building and reduces reliance on government intervention.”
As well as scrapping mandatory quarantine, they will also scrap pandemic payments for casual workers, with the PM saying it’s ‘unsustainable for the government to pay people’s wages forever’.
This decision marks a substantial change in the way Australia is managing the pandemic, having already had some of the strictest restrictions in the world.
Having previously been dubbed “Fortress Australia”, the nation has relied on tough border controls and strict COVID lockdowns.
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said: “The crucial point is that the emergency response phase is probably over at this stage of the pandemic. This virus will exist for many years, but it is time to consider different ways to handle it.”
Business groups across the country welcomed the decision with the Business Council of Australia saying: “The emergency phase of this pandemic is over, so we need to shift gears, move with the rest of the world and manage for the long term. .
“Australians want to get on with their lives and that means taking personal responsibility for their health decisions, just as they do with other viruses like the flu.”
However, the easing of restrictions has not been welcomed by all, with some medical groups saying it would put the public at risk.
Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson criticized the decision, saying: ‘I think the people who are pushing for the isolation periods to be cut are not scientifically literate.
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Prof Brendan Crabb, microbiologist and chief executive of the Burnet Institute, went further, saying today was a ‘dark day’ and called the lifting of restrictions ‘dethroning’, ‘illogical’ and ‘wrong’ informed”.
Australia is one of the most vaccinated countries in the world with around 96.5% of over-16s on double shots and just under 72% on boost.
Hospital admissions and infections have declined in the country following a large outbreak of Omicron over the winter.
Australia has so far recorded around 10.2 million infections and 15,153 deaths during the pandemic, which is far lower than many developed countries.
