Queensland will ease COVID-19 quarantine rules for household contacts and scrap it entirely for unvaccinated international arrivals next week.
Acting Premier Steven Miles says the changes, which will bring Queensland’s rules into line with NSW and Victoria, will come into effect at 6pm next Thursday.
“It’s another milestone in our pathway out of COVID-19,” Mr Miles told reporters on Friday.
Household contacts won’t need to quarantine at home for seven days, but they must return a negative rapid antigen test every two days.
They must also wear face masks indoors and outdoors when they can’t socially distance.
Household contacts should still work from home and avoid high-risk settings such as hospitals and aged care homes.
They will also have to tell their employers they are a close contact.
The government will also ditch mandatory quarantine for unvaccinated travellers arriving from overseas, but they will still need to test negative.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the changes were an essential step toward living with COVID-19.
“It is important that every state along the east coast of Australia have the same rules for unvaccinated international arrivals, making it very easy for international arrivals to fly into any one of the states, including Queensland, and to move around and have consistency in relation to those rules,” Ms D’Ath said.
However, the minister said it was vital for people with symptoms to isolate.
“The lifting of these content requirements are for people who are asymptomatic and testing negative – if you have symptoms, you must stay home.”
Queenslanders have been told to expect infection rates to spike as restrictions are eased but that it is time to move on.
“We are moving from a situation where these measures are controlled by public health directives and now leaving it to individuals and employers to look at this from a workplace health and safety measure,” she said.
Queensland recorded five COVID-19 deaths and 8080 new cases on Friday.
There are 528 patients being treated for COVID-19 in hospital and another 18 in intensive care.
The latest figures show that 93.59 per cent of eligible Queenslanders have had one dose of a vaccine, while 92 per cent have had two.
