Coronavirus: Scott Morrison rules out rapid antigen testing - NEWS.com.au

Rapid antigen testing – which is designed to reveal whether someone is infectious or not within minutes – have long been spruiked as a key weapon in the fight against COVID-19.

Last year, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce described them as a “gamechanger” and said they could help slash the quarantine period from 14 days to just five.

But Mr Morrison told ACA it was still too early for the government to support the tests.

“We put those questions forward, until we can get a clear medical view that that is safe, it would be irresponsible to do it,” he said.

“I have always said, we have to save lives, and livelihoods as well.

“Whether it is JobKeeper or the support we put into businesses with cash flow assistance, the job hiring credit, which starts today for younger Australians, all of that is there to get people through.

“The comeback in Australia has begun, and is gathering momentum.”

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Genesis Gym in Belmont, WA, has been added to the list of sites visited by a confirmed coronavirus case in the state.

According to WA Health, anyone who was at the gym on Saturday, January 30 from 9.30am to 12pm must get tested and isolate.

The Department of Health is contacting all confirmed cases to identify and inform close contacts.

#BREAKING Genesis Gym in Belmont has been added to the list of COVID-19 exposure locations. If you were there on Saturday, Jan 30th between 9.30am-12pm, you must get tested and isolate. #9News pic.twitter.com/Qc6asgQwXP
— 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) February 1, 2021

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected calls for a rollout of rapid virus tests, claiming the jury was still out regarding their safety.

Rapid antigen testing – which is designed to reveal whether someone is infectious or not within minutes – have long been spruiked as a key weapon in the fight against COVID-19.

Last year, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce described them as a "gamechanger" and said they could help slash the quarantine period from 14 days to just five.

But Mr Morrison told ACA it was still too early for the government to support the tests.

"Until we can get a clear medical view that that is a safe thing to do, then it would be irresponsible to do it," he said.

"I've always said from the outset of this, we have to save lives, we’ve got to save livelihoods as well.

"And whether it's been JobKeeper or the support we’ve put in to businesses with cashflow assistance, keeping people in jobs, the job hiring credit, which claims can start today for younger Australians. All of that is there to get Australians through. 90 per cent of the jobs are back.

"The comeback in Australia has already begun and is gathering momentum."

Scott Morrison said it would be &#x27;irresponsible&#x27; to rollout rapid antigen testing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted Australia's coronavirus vaccine will be "safe" and said local production of the jab will start "soon".

Speaking on ACA, Mr Morrison insisted the AstraZeneca vaccine will only be approved if the TGA gives it the green light.

"I have great confidence in that," he said.

"We took the decision (to produce vaccines in Australia) last August, we knew there would be strain on (the) production of vaccines from other countries, and their supply chains could get compromised.

"What it does mean, once AstraZeneca is approved, and we are confident about that, producing it here in Australia with a sovereign manufacturing capability, puts us in a strong position.

"We think it will be soon, I don't want to pre-empt that."

He also doubled down on the safety of the jab.

"One of the reasons why I can say to Australians, get vaccinated, is because I can say it will be safe. It will be effective, that is what the TGA is doing," Mr Morrison said.

"Australians, over the course of the last year, have bought us valuable time, and that means, we are not in the same place as other countries in desperate situations. That is why they are rushing. They have no choice."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's hopes to quarantine returned overseas travellers at a regional workers camp has been dealt a blow by the local mayor.

A camp 20 minutes west of Gladstone and a yet-to-be-built facility in Toowoomba are the two sites the leader has flagged as alternatives for hotel quarantine in the Sunshine State.

However, in a letter to Ms Palaszczuk and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Gladstone Mayor Matt Burnett said the proposal to use the 1392-room Homeground mining camp in Calliope was "not supported by the local community".

Picture: Matt Taylor

"I have personally kept an open mind on this proposal as myself and my fellow councillors await your response to our concerns," Mr Burnett wrote.

"However, during the past two weeks our community has expressed its views on the matter and has made its opposition clear.

"The potential for an increased risk of community transmission locally, and the shutdown of our industrial economy that could cause, as well as the lack appropriate medical services, are concerns shared by many in the region including the Gladstone Leadership Group and the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce and Industry."

The PM said last month, during a visit to the region and following meetings with Mr Burnett and local MP Ken O'Dowd, that while he hadn't seen Ms Palaszczuk's proposal, there were "clear concerns".

"For something like that to even be considered, I think the Premier would need to get the local Labor mayor on board, and I don't think that's happening at this point," Mr Morrison said.

In his letter today, Mr Burnett said he hoped his community's concerns would be taken into consideration.

A Queensland woman accused of breaching isolation requirements in South Australia says she became confused by a "very ambiguous" post on the Facebook page of Premier Steven Marshall.

Picture: Supplied

Marilyn Gaye Hendricks, 66, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court today charged with four counts of failing to comply with COVID-19 directions.

While SA Police has alleged she arrived on a plane from Brisbane on January 8, the court heard she arrived on January 13.

– Kathryn Bermingham, NCA NewsWire

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WHO adviser and epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws says Western Australia's five-day lockdown is "absolutely the right decision from an outbreak management perspective".

"50 per cent of our cases in Australia, this is reflected worldwide, are in place, adults around 20 to 39 years of age," Professor McLaws told the ABC's Afternoon Briefing.

"They're highly mobile, in Australia, they usually have to have two or three jobs to make ends meet because they're under-employed. They meet a lot of people. And the average person that may be fully employed may meet 10 people, someone doing two jobs, and some after hours work, may meet more people.

"So, putting the state, or the area, under lockdown buys the contact tracers time so that any contact of that young man don't become, you know, another source for a third generation.

"And if he does have one of these new variants, the likelihood of him spreading it even when he's in that – what we call a serial interval, the time he acquired it and the time he shows symptoms, that's become – we think, maybe a little shorter, for the infectivitry.

"This young man may have been able to pass it on. Let's hope the authorities have reacted as fast as they possibly could."

Mary and Kevin Smith hugged their daughter for the last time at Adelaide Airport before she entered a strict five-day lockdown in Perth.

The Windsor Gardens couple saw their daughter off on Monday as the state introduced hard border restrictions with Western Australia after a COVID-19 case presented in its capital city.

Mrs Smith, 83, said the family was lucky to spend time together at her granddaughter’s wedding in McLaren Vale over the weekend.

Picture: Emma Brasier

But she said other families would not be so fortunate.

“I feel sad (about other families), but I think we’ve learnt that (closing borders) has to be done,” Mrs Smith said.

“SA did the same thing last year when there was just one isolated case (in Brisbane) and WA has closed the border to us, so we have to learn to live with it and move with whatever decision authorities make."
– Emily Cosenza, NCA NewsWire

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In his daily update, Victoria's chief health officer Brett Sutton confirmed that an "indeterminate" COVID-19 test result on the weekend has since been classified as negative.

"An indeterminate result was detected on Saturday from a man in his 30s," Professor Sutton said in the update.

"Following a review of clinical, epidemiological and testing evidence, this case has been rejected and deemed negative."

Victoria's health department have confirmed it sent out text messages to 1700 people last night who had travelled to the state from the Perth area in the last seven days.

The entire Perth metropolitan region, Peel region and Western Australia's south-west have been classed by their eastern neighbour as a "red zone", meaning people from these areas will be refused entry to Victoria unless they have a special exemption.

The texts urged anyone who arrived in Victoria from the "red zone" since last Monday to self-isolate, get tested for COVID-19 and remain in self-isolation until they had received a negative test result.

WA's chief health officer, Dr Andy Robertson, is asked whether he still believes there'll be more cases on Wednesday (which he told reporters to expect yesterday).

"Just working on the average incubation period obviously is between five and second days for this disease. So working on that basis, the most likely contacts are his close contacts who were all in hotel quarantine and to answer the question before about what happens if we get new contacts, it depends where they are," he responded.

"If they are all in hotel quarantine and don't pose a risk to the community, that is a very different picture and may be a very different approach too, if we have a number of cases in the community, so that's why we have to look about.

"But so we are working on incubation period, so by midweek, you know, most of these people, most of his close contacts, it will be five to seven days and we will be retesting them and if they are still coming up as negative then we would obviously look at yeah, that would be a good, good thing, good sort of sign that this person was not a particularly effective spreader and this is what we are not quite sure on."