ACT Chief Minister Andrew has said he pushed for a reduction to mandatory COVID-19 isolation be pushed back to the end of September at a national cabinet meeting this week and wants isolation payments to continue beyond the end of the month.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced Australians who test positive for coronavirus will be required to isolate for five days from September 9, provided they no longer have symptoms.
Mr Barr said he told the national cabinet meeting he wanted Australia to have fully passed the winter peak of COVID infections before reducing isolation times.
"I was pleased that rather than an instant announcement that that doesn't occur for another 10 days or so," Mr Barr told ABC television.
Mr Barr said he was also pleased national cabinet would meet again to discuss the issue of COVID isolation payments.
"The question is what will be the ongoing isolation support to ensure that people are not faced with a choice of going to work sick because they need the money or isolating?" he said.
"If we do step down, as has been determined from seven to five days [then] it is reasonable that the isolation payment would also step down to cover five days, but in my view it should continue beyond the end of September."
Mr Barr said there would be an argument for ongoing government support for casual staff who self isolated.
"The question would be at what level and would it continue to be a payment jointly funded between the Commonwealth and the states and territories," he said.
"And then my expectation is that over the months ahead that we're going to get more access to new and better vaccines and more access to new and better antiviral treatments.
"So as the world responds to COVID - new treatments, new vaccines - medical science is very focused on this and so that is an encouraging trend in our global response to COVID-19."
The federal government in July struck a deal to co-fund isolation payments with states and territories until the end of September.
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at the time the Commonwealth government remained "flexible" on an extension to pandemic leave post the September 30 date.
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Mr Barr also cautioned against the country dropping mandatory isolation periods for COVID-19 infections entirely, despite other countries already making the move.
"I don't think there's any health advice that would suggest you would move from five to zero any time soon. Ultimately there will come a point when we do need to move away from COVID emergency settings, but that time isn't now in my view," he said on Thursday.
Mr Barr told The Canberra Times on Tuesday he did not yet support reducing COVID-19 isolation to five days, but he would consider the advice of the ACT Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerryn Coleman, and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee before forming his view.
"[Emerging from the winter wave] would be a reason to consider a change but I am concerned about new variants that may emerge during the northern hemisphere winter," he said.
Mr Barr said it was "certainly a risk" a reduced isolation time would lead to more cases of COVID-19.
ACT health authorities on Thursday reported the death of a man in his 80s with COVID-19 along with 199 new COVID-19 infections.
The total number of cases since March 2020 is 201,338. The number of deaths was 124.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
