Peak business bodies are calling for state governments across Australia to abolish the seven-day isolation requirements for close contacts of people with COVID-19.
Business (New South Wales (NSW) and the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it was necessary to remove those rules to mitigate labour shortages.
They proposed that those identified as close contacts be permitted to work pending daily rapid antigen tests instead of self-quarantining.
Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter said Australians could live and work with the novel coronavirus, given the high vaccination rates among the population.
“NSW and Victoria are Australia’s biggest economies, and the current isolation rules are providing a barrier to businesses as healthy people are forced to isolate unnecessarily,” Hunter said in a statement on April 19.
…