Hospitality urges Covid isolation shift

The hospitality industry will urge national cabinet to consider easing Covid-19 isolation rules as Australia’s top doctor says he’s ‘increasingly confident’ the winter Omicron wave has peaked.

Chief medical officer Paul Kelly in Canberra on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The hospitality industry will urge national cabinet to consider easing Covid-19 isolation rules as Australia’s top doctor says he’s “increasingly confident” the winter Omicron wave has peaked.

But chief medical officer Paul Kelly warned “this will not be the last wave” and the impact of the thousands of winter cases would be felt in hospitals for some time.

The reminder that Covid was not going anywhere prompted Restaurant and Catering chief executive Belinda Clarke to say now was the time to look at new ways of isolating.

She will make a submission to national cabinet in the coming weeks canvassing a suite of ideas and said any changes must be nationally consistent.

“We’ve been looking at other countries and ways they’re managing isolation, such as reducing … requirements with those people who don’t have symptoms. We need to manage this and we need to work with Covid in the next few years,” Ms Clarke, whose organisation represents more than 55,000 cafes, restaurants and catering businesses, told The Australian.

“We need to be looking forward. We need to give businesses recovery … give them the confidence to keep going. Without that there’s very little hope for them.”

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond said her industry had been clear it would be guided by health advice but “of course we’d be delighted” to discuss easing the seven-day mandatory isolation requirement.

“Being able to reduce the isolation period, providing it was considered safe and appropriate from the health authorities, may … assist in managing the employee shortages in so many parts of the tourism sector,” Ms Osmond said.

In the US, people must isolate for five days and then wear a mask for a further five days. Britons no longer need to legally self-isolate.

There were around 4800 Australians hospitalised with Covid-19 on Thursday, down from a peak of 5400.

Following a meeting of national cabinet, Professor Kelly said he was “increasingly confident we have reached the peak”.

“Certainly the actual data that we’re seeing, particularly hospital admissions decreasing in all states over the last few days and week, support that,” he said.

“This is coming towards the end of this wave, or peaking of this wave. There will be a tail in hospitals, many older people with many other diseases other than Covid have been admitted. That’s the word we’re getting from clinicians on the ground. But this will not be the last wave. And we will continue to have to plan for that, be ready to know when that’s happening and to respond to it accordingly.”

WA chief health officer Andy Robertson has repeatedly ruled out reducing the state’s seven-day isolation requirements.

He said research showed a quarter of all people infected were still at risk of spreading the virus on the seventh day.

“If we bring it back to, say, five days we’re going to have a lot more infection in the community,” he told ABC radio.

“I know people are often well by day five and they’re frustrated they can’t go back to work or back to school, but (those extra two days are) actually helping to protect the community.”

SA Health Minister Chris Picton said the state still had a “significant” number of Covid patients in hospital.

“I want to make clear how important following isolation rules are to reduce pressure on the health system and help our hardworking frontline doctors, nurses and ambos,“ Mr Picton said.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar agreed it would be premature to contemplate easing isolation rules and said it appeared the health measures to date had been effective.

Professor Kelly also briefed national cabinet on the monkeypox outbreak, as Health Minister Mark Butler announced Australia – which has recorded 58 cases – had secured 450,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s third-generation vaccine. The first 100,000 doses will arrive this year.

Cases in Australia have exclusively been in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men but Professor Kelly cautioned “this can affect anyone”.

Premiers and chief ministers were formally invited to the Albanese government’s jobs and skills summit next month.

Additional reporting: Paul Garvey, David Penberthy, Matthew Denholm, Lydia Lynch