Businesses urged: Seven Days isolation rule be dropped

Business groups are calling for the easing of the seven-day isolation requirement for household contacts of people with COVID-19. Business NSW and the Victorian Chamber say the rules should be eased to ease the burden on businesses. They say it’s creating staff shortages and are asking that close contacts be able to continue working and undergo daily rapid antigen tests.

Business NSW Chief Executive Daniel Hunter said NSW and Victoria had led the way for Australia with very high vaccination rates and demonstrated a capacity to live and work with the virus.

‘The current isolation rules are providing a barrier to businesses as healthy people are forced to isolate unnecessarily,’ he said in a statement on Tuesday. With NSW airport workers now exempt from household contact rules, there was an inconsistency and unfairness.

‘This needs to be fixed so that all businesses can have fair access to workers. ‘Business needs certainty and we know that they are already struggling with supply chain issues and staff shortages,’ he said.

Victorian Chamber Chief Executive Paul Guerra said staff shortages continued to hamper business. ‘We need to release the handbrake and enable businesses to operate at the maximum capacity possible and lead our economic recovery,’ he said.

Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten agrees, saying a week of isolation was too long. ‘Get vaccinated. If you’re sick, stay at home but other than that, seven days’ isolation is unwieldy,’ he said.

Multiple Victorian worker groups are already exempt from isolating as household close contacts, including education, emergency services, healthcare and transport staff.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews last week flagged the state’s isolation rules and vaccination requirements would be scrapped after the Omicron wave peaks.