Health experts have weighed in on the federal government's that has come into force across most of the country.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that what constitutes a close contact of COVID-19 will be drastically narrowed to only include a person who has spent four hours or more in a household setting, or similar, with a confirmed positive case.
But the move has puzzled epidemiologist Adrian Esterman from the University of South Australia, who said COVID-19 does not recognise definitions placed by the federal government.
"The virus doesn't understand definitions, so it doesn't care whether someone's exposed for 15 minutes or four hours. It's still an exposure," Professor Esterman told SBS News.
He said the definition was revised in what he described as a pragmatic decision in order to alleviate the pressures of lengthy queues that were experienced at PCR testing clinics.
"You can't have people waiting for hours in the queue for PCR tests, it's simply untenable.
"The idea of four hours being a cutoff point is simply nonsensical. They're simply being done for practical reasons, which is easing pressure on the testing sites."
But without access to rapid antigen tests (RATs) - now seen as a scarce yet essential household product as Australians attempt to self-manage COVID-19 - Professor Esterman said the country remains in crisis.
"The trouble with the new system is it's reliant on people doing RATs and they simply aren't available.
"So if you can't get a hold of them, then that's probably worse than waiting in line for 12 hours in a queue."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a national cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss a national definition of a COVID-19 close contact. Source: AAP
The vice president of the Australian Medical Association Chris Moy was also sceptical of the revision, saying easing pressure from PCR testing clinics could inevitably risk overwhelming the nation's health system instead.
"While the change in definition in close contact may take pressure off the struggling system, it is betting the house that the likely transfer of pressure over to the health system does not overwhelm it," Mr Moy said on Twitter.
The close contact definition does not include a person who has spent four hours with a COVID-19 confirmed case in a work setting, triggering confusion and concern for the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA).
The RDAA flagged the definition has been narrowed too soon in the wake of Omicron sweeping across the country.
“The new definition does not cover those who work together, at a time when many are returning to their regular workplace and are in close contact for more than four hours each day, or those who have been exposed to the virus in close public settings," RDAA president Megan Belot said.
“All it will do is ensure those who may have been infected with COVID can continue to move freely in the community, and potentially further spread the virus."
Federal Labor's health spokesperson Mark Butler has accused the federal government of abandoning its responsibility to ensure Australians can manage the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Scott Morrison has decided to let it rip without giving Australians the tools that they need to keep themselves safe and healthy, particularly booster shots and rapid tests," he told reporters on Friday.
"The message to the Australian people yesterday from Scott Morrison essentially was, 'you're on your own.'"
But Peter Collignon, professor of infectious diseases at the Australian National Univesity, said the government's revision was a sensible one, particularly as the population's vaccination rates are high and a COVID-zero approach is no more.
"This is a reasonable definition for close contacts, because it's mainly transmitted in the household, and most of the infections occur within the first five to seven days."
"What was being done before obviously wasn't feasible. We had lots of people who didn't have any symptoms in the queue well before people with symptoms," he told SBS News.
He said the country "needed to have a different mindset" and the new definition will capture people who are most at risk of getting infected.
"We have to find a balance. Whether this is not strict enough, I guess we'll see."
