The prime minister and federal health experts have urged states to “not get spooked” by the new Covid variant, Omicron. However, as the number of cases identified in Australia thus far has increased to six, including one case in Sydney that might have been infectious in the community, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has introduced some changes to the rules for returning travellers. Inbound arrivals will be required to isolate at home for 72 hours upon entering the country, and there will be increased fines for returning travellers found to be breaching that isolation requirement, from $1,000 to $5,000. Additionally, all returned travellers will be required to pass a negative PCR test result at the end of their 72-hour quarantine and then another negative result six days after their arrival.
There are even stricter rules for returning travellers from eight African countries – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique – who are required to enter hotel quarantine for 14 days upon arrival into Australia.
The nation’s top health expert, chief medical officer Pau Kelly, told the national cabinet on Tuesday evening that Australian researchers were “in the early stages of understanding the Omicron variant,” conceding that preliminary analysis suggested to could be more transmissible than Delta. However, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office, Kelly also said there was insufficient evidence that vaccines and treatments were less effective against Omicron, and that there was zero evidence to suggest the highly mutated variant caused worse disease. Indeed, some anecdotal reports suggest that Omicron may cause less severe illness than previously identified strains, although there is still no concrete conclusions on this point yet.
The statement from the PM’s office also stated that “national cabinet agreed that the commonwealth and state and territory governments will continue to pursue a suppression strategy, noting the objective is to limit the rate of Omicron incursions into Australia, rather than eliminate it at the border”. On Monday, November 29, the federal government paused reopening the nation’s borders to international visa holders until December 15, although Australian residents and citizens are still permitted to enter. The statement described this decision as “prudent and temporary”, adding that the decision was made to give health authorities time to gain a better understanding of the Omicron variant and its potential threat to Australia.
Morrison added that Australia would “not be going back to lockdowns”.
“None of us want to go back to those long quarantines and all of those sorts of issues,” he said, adding that the pause to reopening international borders would allow Australians to “move forward into Christmas with confidence”.