South Australia will scrap the 14 days of mandatory quarantine for fully-vaccinated overseas arrivals from midnight on Friday, Premier Steven Marshall has announced.
"Fully vaccinated is still a requirement, the not fully vaccinated will have to do 14 days in a hotel," Mr Marshall told reporters on Friday.
He also said, effective immediately, SA will no longer require interstate arrivals to take a rapid antigen test (RAT) or complete a border permit before entering the state.
"It was not a good use of our resources at the moment, and so the Entry Check requirement has been removed," Mr Marshall told reporters.
"The rapid antigen test requirement has been removed, but we are asking all of those people coming from interstate into South Australia to observe exactly the same situation that we require of all South Australians, and that is to monitor their symptoms and to take action should they develop any symptoms."
It comes as New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet announced PCR tests would no longer be required for international arrivals entering the state.
Instead, people arriving in NSW will now be able to complete a rapid antigen test and isolate until they return a negative result.
They will be required to take another RAT on the sixth day after their arrival.
If they test positive on the first or second rapid antigen test, they must immediately get a PCR test.
Mr Perrottet said this measure, along with the new close contact definition agreed upon at national cabinet on Thursday, will assist in managing the backlog of queues at PCR testing clinics.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media during a press conference on Dec 20. Source: AAP
National cabinet has amended its new COVID-19 rules, removing the requirement for confirmed cases in isolation to do a rapid antigen test on the sixth day after they were exposed.
The changes mean there is no obligation to return a negative test before ending their seven days of isolation if a person does not have symptoms.
"If confirmed cases remain symptomatic, they should remain in isolation," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement on Friday.
"Anyone with symptoms will continue to seek a PCR test."
However, people who are in isolation because they have been deemed close contacts must still return a negative rapid antigen test on day six.
Australians in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and the ACT now only need to isolate for seven days if they are a close contact, defined as a household or intimate contact who has spent more than four hours with a positive case.
Mr Marshall flagged the state would not be following the new definition and would instead classify a close contact as someone lived with or was an intimate partner with a positive case.
Mr Morrison said state testing centres would hand out rapid antigen tests over the coming weeks, but RATs will not be provided for free universally.
Health care workers administer COVID-19 PCR tests at the St Vincent’s Drive-through Clinic at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Friday, December 31, 2021. Source: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
"Rapid antigen tests will be provided publicly at those testing centres for those who require one according to the rules," he added.
"For all other casual uses, that is what the private market is for."
With AAP
