Victorians forced to report positive RAT results to health department and isolate for seven days

Victorians who return a positive rapid antigen test for Covid will now be required to report their result to the state’s health department and isolate for seven days.

A new “probable case” category of contact will be signed off on Thursday, meaning the same rights and obligations will be imposed on those who test positive using a RAT as those who take a PCR test.

The tweak to the rules – which take effect from Friday – was announced as Victoria reported 21,997 new cases, nearly one-third of the 72,000 results recorded across the country.

“In the eyes of the health department, you have Covid,” said the state’s acting chief health officer, Prof Ben Cowie, of those people who test positive using a rapid test.

Probable cases must immediately isolate for seven days and notify their contacts.

It will be mandatory to report the result by calling the department or filling in an online form expected to go live on Friday.

Cowie said those people were being discouraged from confirming the result with a PCR test unless they had no symptoms and were not a contact of a positive case.

“They are the least likely to actually have Covid and that confirmation can be sought if there’s an unexpected positive RAT result,” he said.

The Victorian health minister, Martin Foley, said people who returned a positive RAT would receive the same clinical and financial support as those with positive PCR results.

“The goal is to bring it as close to, if not exactly the same as, the supports that the PCR reporting system has and make sure that increasingly, the rapid antigen testing is the key part of our testing,” Foley said on Thursday.

Probable cases will be reported alongside the daily figures. Restrictions are also being reintroduced in an effort to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.

Density limits of one person per 2 sq metres will be reintroduced for indoor hospitality and entertainment venues from Friday. Cinemas and theatres, where people are seated and masked, will be exempt.

Victoria has ordered an extra 10m rapid tests, taking the total number headed for the state to 44m. The first of those are expected to be deployed in the coming days – though it is unclear how they will be distributed.

By 9am on Thursday there were 35 state-run PCR testing sites closed because they were over capacity.