Source: SBS news
The prime minister has announced a four-phase plan to guide Australia out of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lockdowns will be used as a last resort and vaccinated people could have eased restrictions when they do occur after the approval of a “new deal for Australians on the pathway out of COVID-19”.
National cabinet has agreed to a four-stage plan for Australia to move from trying to suppress COVID-19 to living with it once enough people are vaccinated.
Each new phase would be triggered by the achievement of a vaccination threshold expressed as a percentage of the eligible population.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday the agreement was designed to enable an end to lockdowns and travel restrictions.
“If you get vaccinated, you get to change how we live as a country. You get to change how you live in Australia,” he told reporters.
The plan includes a commitment to trial alternative quarantine options, such as home quarantine for returning vaccinated travellers.
National cabinet has also agreed to cut commercial inbound passenger arrivals to all major ports by 50 per centto reduce the pressure on quarantine facilities.
The four-stage plan is based on modelling work by the Doherty Institute on how many people would need a jab for both Alpha and Delta variants.
“This will be a scientific number. It won’t be a political number, it won’t be an arbitrary number, it will be a number that we can have confidence,” Mr Morrison said.
But in laying out the plan, national cabinet has not committed to specific timelines around when Australia’s transitions will be completed.
The delivery of the vaccine rollout has been stunted by supply shortages as well as changes to medical advice around the AstraZeneca vaccine, which have impacted uptake.
Federal government data released on Thursday revealed just under eight per cent of the population has been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, almost half of Australia remains in lockdown in response to community COVID-19 outbreaks.
Phase one – ‘Pre-vaccination’
The full detail of the government’s four-stage plan is yet to be revealed.
But Australia is right now in phase one of the plan involving the implementation of national vaccination plan aimed at suppressing the virus, according to Mr Morrison.
National Cabinet has agreed during this phase, lockdowns will be used as a last resort.
It has also agreed to trial with states and territories the introduction of alternative quarantine options, including home quarantine for returning vaccinated travellers.
The Commonwealth’s existing Medicare vaccination certificate will be used to determine who has been vaccinated with plans to make this more accessible to access through electronic devices like phones.
There will also be a further review conducted into the national hotel quarantine network.
Phase 2 – ‘Post-vaccination’
Mr Morrison says the next “post vaccination” phase would be reached once a specified vaccine target is reached, likely including specific targets for vulnerable populations over 70.
“Then we will move into a phase where we seek to minimise serious illness, hospitalisation and fatality as a result of COVID-19,” Mr Morrison said.
This would likely see more restrictions eased, with lockdowns only occurring in “extreme circumstances” to prevent “escalating hospitalisation and fatality.”
Inbound passenger caps would be restored to previous levels for unvaccinated returning travellers and then larger caps put in place for those who are vaccinated.
National Cabinet has also agreed to cap entry of student and economic visa holders, subject to quarantine availability with this an extension on trials to be conducted in phase one.
New quarantine arrangements would be extended for vaccinated Australians, based on previous trials.
Phase 3 – ‘Consolidation’
The aim of this phase would be to manage COVID-19 in line with the public response to other infectious diseases.
The prime minister said this means COVID-19 would be treated like the flu, which means “no lockdowns”.
“That basically means the hospitalisation and fatality rates that you see from COVID-19 would be like the flu,” Mr Morrison said.
It would also mean lifting restrictions on out-bound travel for vaccinated persons and extending unrestricted travel bubble for other countries such as Singapore, the Pacific and other potential candidates.
An increased capped allowing the entry of student economic and humanitarian visa holders would also be introduced.
Phase 4 – ‘Back to normal’
The final phase would see an attempt to return the country to the pre-COVID normal, including allowing uncapped inbound travel for all vaccinated persons without quarantine.
It would also allow uncapped arrivals of non-vaccinated travel subject to pre-flight and on arrival COVID-19 testing.
“We get this done Australia, and you can see what is on the other side,” Mr Morrison said.
