Australia scraps Covid-19 isolation periods for confirmed case

AUSTRALIA will end its mandated 5-day isolation period for confirmed Covid-19 infections from Oct 14, bringing the country closer to normality after more than 2 years of tough pandemic-related restrictions.

The decision was made by Australia’s National Cabinet on Friday (Sep 30), a governing body made up of the heads of the 8 states and territories along with the prime minister.

The government wanted a policy “that promotes resilience and capacity building and reduces our reliance on government intervention”, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said after the decision.

Australia introduced some of the world’s toughest health restrictions during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, including shutting its borders to all international travellers and months-long lockdowns in major cities to contain outbreaks of the virus. BLOOMBERG