It seems a fair decision now there is data from consecutive days that they have tried to contact trace. Scientists/public health would work on evidence, not on presumption.
But you can still carry the virus. If this was WA, they'd lock you up for 28 days, two full replication cycles, you know, just to be sure.................................................
Indeed, even if borders there do open on Feb 5 I am going to be rather nervous in visiting due to the potential for this exact scenario. I expect there are more than a few people who have been scared in to cancelling trips because of the reaction of QLD/TAS in particular.
You always needed a negative test before departure, but they wanted you to have one on arrival and on day 5 as well.
The wait in SA has been around 8 hours.
Has has spent the last 2 years instilling the fear of God about covid in to his entire electorate.
So why not abolish the 72 hour test as well? Is the argument that COVID is worse when you get it interstate? [rhetorical questions, no justification needed unless your name is Prof Spurious]
Good for you. But we are in different states, after all, and I'm in what's called 'the regions'.
I don't think you've tried to book a booster using the Victorian government system.
I hope National Cabinet ends this practice, or at least switches to the rapid test.
What good is there in getting the booster if all it does is make your COVID symptoms go away thereby making it easier to spread? Unless the strategy is of course to let 'er rip to get herd immunity with no one really getting sick.
If I was on a flight that had a close contact and was forced to quarantine, I would leave my room every 6 hours to get a COVID test. If they're really serious about this virus, maybe I should be testing every 6 hours then. You never know!
The main concern though is if they're not sick they can still transmit COVID to someone who may very well get sick. A big issue is that governments keep using the tin standard (e.g., PCR tests) that are slow, expensive and likely contribute greatly to the spread of COVID by forcing people to queue in line shoulder to shoulder for hours on end to get a test. We have better technology out there that will tell you if you're infectious with COVID, namely lateral flow (e.g. rapid antigen) tests. In such a system, you could imagine during check-in you're administered a lateral flow test and wait 15 minutes for the results. If all is good you're cleared to fly. This would also be better from the standpoint of the government since they are getting results as they travel not from 3 days prior at which point they may have caught COVID in the interim.
Indeed the rules keep changing left and right - is it any wonder why the Australian travel and tourism market is still in the coughter? No one wants to put down thousands of dollars on a vacation only to get a worthless voucher for their troubles! People want vacations not vouchers!
Great to see SA is using symptoms of COVID that aren't present in Delta or Omicron (e.g., nausea, vomiting, sore throat, fever or chills, cough). Meanwhile those of us with seasonal allergies have runny and blocked nose all the time. Are they really expecting us to test every single day? Don't get me wrong, I do a rapid antigen test every week just as a safety measure but this is getting a bit overkill.
