PM redefines ‘close contact’, saying ‘Omicron a game-changer’

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison says states and territories have agreed to narrow the definition of a close contact to people living with confirmed Covid cases, in a major change for five states from midnight.

Mr Morrison, after an emergency national cabinet meeting on Thursday to deal with the escalating situation caused by the Omicron variant, told the nation: “Omicron requires us to undertake a change of how we are managing the pandemic. We need to reset how we think about the pandemic, how we manage ourselves and the things we need to do as governments. “Omicron is a game-changer.” He confirmed a nationally consistent definition of a close contact, coming into effect in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT from midnight Thursday.

Tasmania will adopt the new definition from January 1. The Northern Territory and Western Australia will introduce it at a later date.

A close contact will be narrowed to people who’ve spent at least four hours with a confirmed case in a household or household-like setting, such as an aged care facility.

They would then be required to isolate for a week – with the exception of South Australia, which will keep its isolation time of 10 days. If the close contact has no symptoms, they will need to take a rapid antigen test on day six and return a negative result.

But Mr Morrison (right) said if the close contact had symptoms, they would need a PCR test.

Similarly, if the close contact returns a positive result with their rapid antigen test, they will also need to take a PCR test to confirm they caught it.

The rapid antigen tests will be available for free to these people at testing clinics.

“So, if you are symptomatic, and that goes for anyone who is symptomatic, by the way, if you are symptomatic, then the right test is a PCR test,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Morrison urged people not to fill up testing clinics unless they needed to.

“If you don’t fulfil this definition of a close contact, then there is no need for you to be in that line,” Mr Morrison said.

“You should go home. Go to the beach, go and do what you want to do. Read a book in the park.

“The people we need in that line are people who need a PCR test.”