Qantas wants ‘test and release’ for international travellers

International travellers could be able to return home to Australia without home quarantine in the future under a “test and release” Covid-19 protocol being used overseas.

International travellers could be able to return home to Australia without home quarantine in the future under a “test and release” Covid-19 protocol being used overseas.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says he’s hopeful that the future of post-pandemic travel will include allowing travellers to clear their quarantine test within a matter of hours if a trial of seven-day hotel quarantine in NSW is a success.

Currently, overseas travellers to Australia need to pay $3000 or more to quarantine at a hotel when they travel to Australia. But several states including South Australia have commenced a trial of home quarantine.

And the hope is that even the home quarantine period could be slashed to just hours if rapid tests are rolled out in the future.

“Once we hit the targets of vaccination coverage, the NSW Premier is very aggressively talking about opening up the NSW borders before Christmas,” he told 3AW.

“When you get back to the country, it’s likely to be a home quarantine. And everybody’s saying, we’re hoping we get to a stage where it’s test and release, which is what a lot of other countries have done. So you get back into the country, you get tested and you don’t have to go into a form of quarantine.”

Qantas check-in terminals at Sydney Airport.Picture: James Gourley/NCA NewsWire

In the future that is likely to be relaxed even further with Covid tests at the airport on arrival or at home. Australia announced this week that rapid antigen testing will be rolled out from November 1. But there’s no road map currently to use the rapid tests on international travellers.

“It could be a combination of both,” Mr Joyce said.

“Some other countries around the world are looking at rapid antigen testing, which hopefully we’ll have more available here in Australia, which is a lot easier to administer and to test. And of course, everybody on our aircraft will be fully vaccinated or employees will be, and we’d be only carrying passengers that are fully vaccinated.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt has described a “test and release” regime for international travel as something for further down the track but confirmed it is likely to be considered over the next year.

“So, the pathway for international travel is firstly we want to see people being able to travel, particularly the double vaccinated, as soon as possible. And that’s to ensure they can travel and return safely,” he said.

“The stage which is being considered at this stage is home quarantine. And obviously, further down the track, there may well be a circumstance where people are able to be tested. And if negative, perhaps have a follow-up test and be out in the community.

“But at this stage, the next step is to allow the double vaccinated to be able to travel, return, and home quarantine. And home quarantine, I think, is a very important step forward.”

Rapid antigen testing will be rolled out from November. Picture: Tim Hunter

How test and release works in the UK

In the UK, the rules were recently relaxed to scrap pre-departure tests for fully vaccinated from some countries. That means fully vaccinated travellers will no longer be required to provide evidence of a negative test result before they can travel to England and Scotland.

Over the last year, Britain used a traffic light system of green, amber and red countries with different testing and quarantine rules depending on where you live.

But by the end of October, the day two PCR test requirement for returning travellers will be replaced with a cheaper lateral flow test. PCR tests in the UK range from $75 to $130. Those tests are currently free in Australia. But overseas, rapid antigen tests are about half that amount.

Under the new UK rules, a fully vaccinated traveller will have to book a day two coronavirus test for when they return, but will no longer require a pre-departure test before returning home to the UK and they will not be required to quarantine.

Travellers who are not fully vaccinated can still travel but must book a pre-departure test when returning to England, book and pay for day two and day eight follow ups and also quarantine at home for 10 days.

Originally published as Qantas wants ‘test and release’ for international travellers