Close contacts of Covid-19 cases will NO LONGER have to isolate in NSW if they have recently been diagnosed with the disease
- Close contacts of Covid-19 cases in NSW will no longer have to isolate if they have recently been diagnosed with the disease
- The change came into force on Wednesday morning
- It means that someone who tests positive to Covid will only have to isolate once
Close contacts of Covid-19 cases in NSW will no longer have to isolate for seven days if they have left isolation after being diagnosed in the previous 28 days.
This means that someone who tests positive to to Covid-19 will only have to isolate once, under the change which came into force on Wednesday morning.
The change comes as Premier Dominic Perrottet announced that Covid patients who don’t register positive rapid antigen test results will be fined $1000 in NSW.
Residents will now be required to log results on the Service NSW app within 24 hours.
Close contacts of Covid-19 cases will no longer need to isolate if they have left isolation after being diagnosed in the previous 28 days.
Positive test results can be uploaded from January 1. Mr Perrottet said there will be a ‘grace period’ for fines, with the penalties kicking in in seven days.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said more than 2,900 people had already reported their rapid test results since 9am on Wednesday.
When asked why the government took so long to create their own testing system compared to other states, Mr Dominello said it was because the NSW system was more complex.
‘Most other places simply have a web form. We’re connecting it to the app because once we connect it to that app, we can then connect you healthcare services as well, and that’s the key feature of what we’re doing here in NSW,’ he said.
‘We are basically stratifying those who have Covid into two categories. Those with low risk and those with high risk.’
The premier said PCR tests will continue to be used alongside rapid tests amid the surge in cases, admitting that reporting RAT results would be hard to enforce.
‘There are obviously areas right across the state where there are laws that are harder to enforce than others – this is clearly one that will be harder to enforce, there’s no doubt about it,’ he said.
But he said he expected everyone in the state to upload their results.
Many online have criticised the government’s new mandate, questioning how authorities would know if they hadn’t reported their results.
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