Should Australia lengthen its COVID quarantine period from 14 to 21 days?
Singapore recently increased the time most international travellers must spend in mandatory quarantine from 14 to 21 days, over concerns people can shed the virus beyond two weeks. Key points: Immunologist Cassandra Berry says a 21-day quarantine period will likely lead to fewer outbreaks  Immunologist Cassandra Berry says a 21-day quarantine period will likely lead to fewer outbreaks Other experts say increasing testing rates in quarantine and building fit-for-purpose facilities will address issues better  Other experts say increasing testing rates in quarantine and building fit-for-purpose facilities will address issues better They all agree improving the national vaccination rate is the best way to protect Australians in the long term  The country now has one of the world's strictest quarantine arrangements, alongside Hong Kong. Hong Kong introduced a 21-day requirement in late 2020, although people from low-risk countries (including Australia) only need to do two weeks' quarantine in a facility followed by seven days of monitoring. As Australia continues to look at ways to minimise spread of SARS-CoV-2 into the future, Murdoch University professor of immunology Cassandra Berry says it needs to "revisit" national quarantine arrangements. "If we made it 21 or 20 days, that may actually help reduce the virus spread even better," she said. "We'd likely see less outbreaks." Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 2 minutes 49 seconds 2 m 49 s Melbourne's Delta strain outbreak has been linked to a returned traveller in hotel quarantine. Professor Berry acknowledged 21 days was a long time but said it could help protect the community from new overseas strains such as the Delta variant. "We're going to see new variants pop up all over the world along with the increased chance of importing them into our country with new arrivals," she said. But not everyone's convinced it's a good idea. Strain on 'limited' quarantine facilities  Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National University, was strongly against lengthening the time people had to quarantine in Australia. "It's hard enough for two weeks, imagine what it's like for three weeks," he said. Professor Collignon said the proposal would also limit the number of people who could re-enter Australia. "It will decrease our capacity markedly for the number of people to return to Australia, because we only have a limited number of quarantine facilities and rooms," he said. "If we have people staying an extra week, it means we effectively have cut down by 33 per cent the number of Australians that can return home." On a practical level, Professor Collignon said very few people developed an infection more than two weeks after exposure to the virus. "The reality is it's very, very rare to have someone develop COVID more than 12 days after exposure to the virus," he said. "The average incubation period is about five days. "Anywhere from one day [after exposure] out to 12 days is where 99.9 per cent [of infections] happen." Professor Berry says a 21-day quarantine period will likely lead to fewer outbreaks. ( AAP: Jeremy Piper  Experts say issue is infection control  Professor Collignon said the key problem in Australia's quarantine system was infection control breaches. Griffith University virologist Nigel McMillan agreed. "Most of the cases, when you think about it in terms of escape, are people who got infected in hotel quarantine," he said. "The facilities that we are using for quarantine aren't really fit for purpose especially with the Delta variant, which is much more infectious." Professor McMillan said, to limit potential breaches, Australia should instead increase the frequency of testing during quarantine, especially in rooms close to where other travellers had tested positive. He also supported building better quarantine facilities that mirrored Howard Springs, where people could access fresh air, and rooms were physically separated from each other. People who stay at the Howard Springs quarantine facility have access to fresh air on their balcony. ( AAP: Glenn Campbell  But Professor McMillan said Australia's quarantine system was mostly functioning well. "Three hundred thousand-and-something people have gone through the system, and we've had, about 28 breaches something like that," Professor McMillan said. "The system has been working quite well." 'Biggest focus' on vaccination  Rather than extend the quarantine period, Australia's best strategy would be to achieve to herd immunity through high vaccination rates, Professor McMillan said. "Then essentially quarantine isn't required." Vaccinating as many people in Australia as soon as possible was also a priority for Professor Berry, who said the best thing Australians could do was get the jab as soon as they were eligible. Professor Collignon said Australia also needed to, ideally, vaccinate people with at least one dose before they arrived here. He believes that Australia also had an "obligation" to send vaccines to the South Pacific and other countries that needed them. "Our biggest focus needs to be getting as many people vaccinated as possible." Health in your inbox Get the latest health news and information from across the ABC. Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement Email address Subscribe