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Thursday, October 1, 2026 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Mandatory covid isolation scrapped

AUSTRALIANS will no long have to isolate after testing positive to COVID-19 from October 14, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced this morning (September 30).

Anthony Albanese. Photo: Facebook.

Following a National Cabinet meeting, Albanese said that mandatory covid isolation will end for all states and territories.

The date will also mark the end of pandemic disaster leave payments with the exception of people in high-risk settings like aged and disability care.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the decision comes as Australia is in a “low community transmission phase of the pandemic.”

“It does not in any way suggest that the pandemic is finished,” he said.

“We will almost certainly see future peaks of the virus into the future.

“However, at the moment, we have very low rates of both cases, hospitalisations, intensive care admissions, aged-care outbreaks and various other measures that we have been following very closely in our weekly open report.”

It comes as the ACT this morning also declared the COVID-19 emergency over.

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