New South Wales has joined Victoria and scrapped mandatory reporting of a positive Covid rapid antigen test (RAT) as the state continues to roll back pandemic measures.
But the NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, urged people to keep reporting positive results to the government anyway.
“Registering a positive RAT through Service NSW allows us to connect people to medical care, particularly older people and the immunocompromised, and it also helps inform our ongoing public health response,” Chant said in a statement on Wednesday.
A $1,000 fine has been applicable to anyone who fails to report a positive RAT result on the Service NSW app. But the requirement to make a report will be dropped, starting Friday.
The announcement comes after national cabinet’s decision two weeks ago to end mandatory isolation for positive cases, which will also come into effect on Friday.
The Victorian government has also announced plans to drop mandatory reporting of positive RATs, with that decision to come into effect on Thursday.
In the statement, Chant emphasised the need to voluntarily maintain some measures after eased restrictions, including isolating at home if symptoms emerge.
“If you have Covid-19 you may be infectious for up to 10 days, but you are most infectious in the two days before your symptoms start and while you have symptoms,” she said.
“We all know from experience what works best to protect one another from Covid-19 so, please, continue to take those simple but important steps.
“In particular, we urge people to please stay at home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, cough or fever and go and get tested.”
Chant said people should talk to their employer about when and how they can safely return to the workplace.
“It is important we continue to think of others, especially those most vulnerable and the best thing people of all ages can do to protect themselves remains to make sure they are up to date with their Covid-19 and influenza vaccinations,” she said.
Chant said in high-risk settings, such as hospitals, disability and aged care facilities, staff should only return to work after seven days, subject to their own work, health and safety assessment, and if symptom-free.
The last NSW surveillance report showed the current Covid wave was in decline, with the seven-day hospitalisation average at its lowest rate this year.
There have been 6,799 cases reported in NSW via RATs in the past week, with 3,968 cases confirmed by PCR tests.
Forty-one people have died from the virus in the past week, with 954 people currently hospitalised with the virus, including 23 people in ICU.
