
Prime Minister considering 'home quarantine' for safe countries.
People flying into Australia from designated 'safe countries' could soon be allowed to quarantine at home.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) is looking at the safety of home isolation.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the timing of reviving home quarantine would be determined principally by the panel's health advice.
"But I'm hopeful it's something we can move to," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is open to allowing people arriving in Australia to quarantine at home if health experts give the green light. https://t.co/ZOBMBsWHOL
— SBS News (@SBSNews) September 29, 2020
"As time goes on, we will need a more flexible approach that gives us more options for managing this, so I think that is something that is under active consideration," he said.
Two weeks hotel quarantine is mandatory for overseas arrivals and some domestic travellers entering states and territories with closed borders.
An ankle bracelet or a police check-in app are some of the ways being looked at to ensure success of the program, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
The AHPPC is preparing advice for national cabinet, which next meets on October 16, on quarantine options for the long term.
30,000 elderly Aussies died waiting for home care package.
Figures from the Department of Health show 30,000 people have died in the past three years while on the waitlist for their approved home care package.
The numbers were discussed in a Senate inquiry hearing on Tuesday, with home care first assistant secretary Nick Hartland unable to say how many of those deaths were as a result of COVID-19. He did confirm that 10,569 people have died while on the waitlist in 2019-2020.
At least 102,081 older Australians approved for a home care package remain on the national waitlist. Almost 16,000 of those are waiting for high level support.
Top Comments