THE relaxation of COVID-19 isolation rules for household contacts has been met with both delight and dismay, with Hunter businesses calling it a "step in the right direction" while disability advocates fear the changes will put the region's most vulnerable at risk.
As the Hunter recorded 2,069 new cases and the death of a Lake Macquarie woman in her 70s, the NSW Government announced that from 6pm Friday, the strict seven-day isolation rule for household contacts not displaying symptoms of COVID-19 will be replaced with a "more permissive" set of guidelines.
Household contacts are advised to wear a face mask in indoor settings outside the home, to undertake daily rapid antigen testing before coming into close contact with others, and to avoid contact with elderly and immunocompromised people.
The news has been welcomed by the Hunter's businesses, but representatives from the region's disability community are concerned the new guidelines' reliance on people "doing the right thing" will put vulnerable people at risk.
Bob Hawes, the chief executive of Business Hunter, said the household contact isolation rules have had a "dramatic" impact on the labour force in businesses across all sectors and services. He believes the changes will give businesses more confidence and certainty.
"I'm really hoping people who can't work from home take advantage of this and comply with the conditions and get the wheels of commerce turning a little bit faster than they have been," Mr Hawes said.
David Belcher, of Community Disability Alliance Hunter (CEDA), said they were deeply concerned about what the next few weeks may bring as the risk of exposure in an already vulnerable population inevitably increased.
"COVID is still real, it is still very much in the community, and it is still killing people," he said.
"There is no way of sugar coating it. The fact is, we've had more deaths in 2022 than we have had in the two previous years, and only because the rates of infection have increased and the previous protections in place for the community have been relaxed.
"The risk of exposure, to those that can least afford to be exposed, seems to be ever-increasing. And once again, the disability community has been left out of the conversation.
"We are as keen to get back to normality as anybody, but it has to be done in a way where there's a level of protection and a level of understanding around the delicate nature of people's current conditions."
Mr Belcher said the new COVID-19 public health guidelines were based on people doing the right thing.
"And that would be great if that was the case, but we have seen - even under the most intense restrictions - that people were still doing the wrong thing," he said.
"This idea that people with disability, who are immunocompromised or have a pre-existing condition have to shut themselves away... we rely on support and people coming in and out of our house to provide that support... The continual spread of COVID in the community is just going to increase the chances of it entering our homes. What options do you have to protect yourself?"
With the relaxing of isolation requirements, he urged people to respect the wishes of those around them.
"If someone is wearing a mask, or they are asking you to wear a mask, please take that as a serious concern. They are asking for a reason."
Mr Hawes, who hopes the whole community will approach these measures "sensibly", said even the loss of a handful of staff at a small business could mean the difference between being able to trade normally, "or not at all", as well as contribute to supply chain breakdowns.
"I think it will certainly have an impact," he said.
"But I'd just ask businesses, and the community, to look at it carefully and make sure they do abide by the conditions that came out with the guidelines. Make sure they don't go out and mix when they have symptoms, because the flip side is just as bad, if not worse, than what we're currently dealing with."
There are now 84 COVID-19 positive patients receiving care in hospitals across Hunter New England, and three are in intensive care.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said on Wednesday that while the nature of contact within a household posed a "significant risk" for transmission, these mitigation measures for people without symptoms or illness would replace the current "strict" household contact rules.
"You never say never with COVID... We will continue to watch the circumstances as they unfold and respond accordingly," she said.
