COVID-19 isolation rules for close contacts will be scrapped in New South Wales today, along with changes to vaccine requirements for key workers.
Firstly, you should know that the changes will come into effect at 6pm today.
Here's everything else you need to know about today's changes.
What if I am a close contact?
From 6pm tonight close contacts of a COVID case will no longer have to isolate for seven days.
Close contacts will, however, have to take a daily rapid antigen test (RAT) and wear a face mask indoors before having contact with people outside their household.
NSW Health says close contacts still can't visit aged care, hospitals, disability or correctional facilities unless there's a special exemption in place, and should work from home if it's practical.
It warns close contacts should also avoid contact with elderly and immunocompromised persons.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the lifting of isolation rules for close contacts would allow the state to continue to move forward out of the pandemic.
"As the pandemic has evolved so has our response and this is another example where we have been able to make necessary changes safely and in a measured way," he said.
Do key workers still need to be vaccinated?
Another change today is the lifting of public health orders that require key workforces to be vaccinated — instead, requirements will be based on risk assessments under occupational work health and safety.
Aged care and disability workers must still be vaccinated.
These changes will mean the critical worker exemptions from isolation rules will no longer be required.
However, close contacts will still need to comply with any COVID-19 safety measures that have been put in place in their workplace by employers.
Other changes coming into effect from April 30 remove the requirement for unvaccinated international returning travellers to stay in hotel quarantine.
That means all returning travellers now have the same requirements — to undertake a RAT within 24 hours of arriving and comply with NSW Health guidelines.
What rules aren't changing?
The seven-day isolation requirement remains in place for anyone who has recorded a positive RAT or PCR result.
Masks still have to be worn on public transport, planes, and indoors at airports and cruise terminals — public transport capacity caps will be lifted though on April 30.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said people still needed to exercise caution to protect vulnerable members of the community.
"We are still in a pandemic and the basic rules of hand hygiene, wearing a mask when you cannot socially distance and staying at home if you have symptoms still apply," he said.
Why are these changes being made?
The government has come under pressure from businesses to remove the close contact restriction, with some sectors struggling with staff shortages.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the state had passed the peak of the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant and the changes to the rules were part of simplifying management of the virus.
"It is important as we move to the next phase in COVID, that we support the community to understand how COVID is transmitted and how best we can protect the most vulnerable in the community," Dr Chant said.
Mr Perrottet said restrictions could return in the future and the changes did not mean the pandemic was over.
