“We need to be moving away from a ‘soldier on’ mentality when you are sick to a situation where you respect others and accept that when you are sick you stay at home,” Perrottet told theHerald.
Chief health officers will brief premiers and chief ministers ahead of national cabinet on the implications of scaling back the current seven-day isolation period as transmission slows after a winter peak for infections.
Perrottet has previously indicated his support for a move from mandatory seven-day isolation to five days;however,he will tell his colleagues this week that change must come sooner rather than later.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signalled that an end to mandatory isolation may be on the horizon,confirming national cabinet would discuss what restrictions would look like in the “longer term”,noting that daily case numbers were falling.
“It is important that decisions are made which are right for the times,” he said after an address at the National Press Club in Canberra.
Reducing the isolation period was raised at national cabinet last month but was not backed by advice from Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly ahead of the expected peak in cases of the BA.4/5 Omicron variant.
Perrottet said “national harmony” around COVID-19 rules was needed,and he would not advocate for states going it alone,particularly with the pandemic isolation payment to end next month.