Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after discussions with state and territory leaders (National Cabinet), has unveiled a new definition of a Covid-19 close contact:
- only a person who is living with a confirmed Covid-19 positive or sharing an accommodation setting for more than four hours with an infected person is considered a close contact
The new definition will be active in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT from midnight tonight. These states cover around 21.5m of Australia's population (around 26m give or take). Other states are expected to follow in coming days (confirmation awaited).
It means less of the population in isolation. It comes as indications mount that Omicron infections have less severe outcomes. This from earlier:
