Any changes to household isolation rules in the ACT are expected to be announced this week, as conversations continue between states on the eastern seaboard around a relaxation of the rules.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she expected to speak with health ministers in NSW and Victoria over the coming days to clarify plans for the states, stressing that consistency around the rules was crucial.
Ms Stephen-Smith said there would likely still be restrictions for household contacts, such as being required to wear masks in public or being prevented from going to high-risk settings such as aged care facilities or hospitals.
"There is a conversation about whether there are some other restrictions that we could put in place instead of quarantine where we, for example, require people to wear masks when they leave their home and they're going into indoor settings," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"[We might] require them to take a rapid antigen test if they're going into particular indoor settings [or] they're not able to visit high-risk settings."
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee has been meeting to develop a plan for the easing of the household contact rules, after national cabinet agreed to work on a plan last month.
The NSW government has pushed to ease the household contact rules. NSW is working with Victoria to ensure consistency between the states rules. Ms Stephen-Smith said the ACT also wanted to be in line with this.
"We've been very clear that we've wanted to align as much as we can, particularly with NSW," she said.
"The point of national cabinet asking the Australian Health Protection Principle Committee for advice on this was to try to get a national position and maintain national consistency around those quarantine arrangements.
"If that's not going to be the case I think NSW and Victoria will be the first to move on this. They're trying to do that together and consistently and we will obviously try to align with them."
Ms Stephen-Smith said she recognised people had been frustrated about the household contact rules but there needed to be a balance. She said she expected there would be something to say later in the week.
"As we have moved more and more towards living with COVID-19, the disease is out in our community we're also seeing the impact on workforce that is having and so we do need to balance those risks," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"But that has to be part of the conversation is what are the appropriate precautions. If we're not going to ask people to quarantine what do we ask them to do while they're out and about in the community."
