Greg Hunt says aged care facilities will be able to remain open during outbreaks

Health minister Greg Hunt has explained what new significant Covid guidelines signed off on by national cabinet will mean.

Health Minister Greg Hunt says lockdowns will be avoided in aged care facilities when residents test positive, under significant new guidelines that allow others to still have daily visitors.

Under new medical advice that was endorsed by national cabinet on Thursday, infected residents would instead be separated from the rest of the facility through a process known as “cohorting”.

Mr Hunt said it was a “challenging balance” between infection control and reducing isolation and loneliness.

“Instead of a blanket lockdown for an entire facility it is much more nuanced to allow every patient, every day, to have a visit in the vast majority of circumstances,” he said.

“In particular they’re looking at things such as zones or cohorting to keep people safe.

“That’s our human requirement, we want every resident, every day, to be able to have at least one visitor, I think that’s extremely important.”

Mr Hunt said there still could be circumstances where a facilities suffered widespread outbreaks and were forced to “dial back”.

But he said the ultimate goal was to keep the aged care facilities as open as possible.

The new guidelines came from medical expert panel the Australian Health Protection Principal Committe, which is made up of state chief health officers and the chief medical officer.

National cabinet also endorsed a mandate for booster shots in care aged care on Thursday.

It comes as pandemic emergency powers that require people to be vaccinated to travel into or out of Australia were extended by two months to April 17 on Friday.

The extension of the “human biosecurity emergency period” was signed off on by the Governor-General due to Omicron.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has explained new aged care guidelines to deal with Covid. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Mr Hunt said it gave the federal government the power to enforce the following measures:

• •Mandatory pre-departure testing and mask wearing for international flights;
• •Restrictions on international travel for unvaccinated Australians;
• •Restrictions on the entry of cruises in Australia;
• •Measures to prevent price gouging on rapid antigen tests; and
• •Restrictions to protect remote communities in the Northern Territory.

“It is important … (this remains in) place to ensure the appropriate legislative powers are available to the Australian government during Omicron outbreaks, as well as to protect vulnerable communities in Australia,” he said.

On Thursday, national cabinet discussed moving towards “Phase D” of Australia’s reopening plan, with further consideration to be given at the next meeting in March.

“Phase D” involves opening international borders, minimising cases in the community without ongoing restrictions and living with Covid in a similar way to the flu.

Unvaccinated travellers who have been tested before and after a flight would also be able to come into Australia.

Originally published as Greg Hunt says aged care facilities will be able to remain open during outbreaks