The Prime Minister and state Premiers meet in Canberra today to discuss reducing the mandatory isolation period from seven days to five.

But ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler warned that despite daily case numbers falling, COVID is not yet over.

“While we are slowly emerging from this current COVID-19 outbreak, we must not risk further infection, disease and increased burden on our health system by removing COVID safety measures too quickly,” she said.

“We saw the devastation caused when the former Prime Minister and NSW Premier last year insisted the country had to open up and live with COVID™ and decided to let it rip.

“The subsequent wave of the Omicron variant ran rampant in the lead-up to Christmas causing enormous stress on our health and aged care systems, enormous disruption and thousands of deaths.”

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has backed the lowering, while Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says the time is right for fresh advice on isolation measures.

“I also believe in national consistency. I’ve made that very clear that we will be better as a country … on the other remaining health restrictions that we move as one,” Perrottet told the premiers’ joint media conference in Melbourne.

“We will naturally discuss and debate those things (today) and hopefully we will have a strong outcome.”

The prime minister said while the views of the NSW premier on isolation measures were already well known, national consistency was needed.

“Instead of the six states and two territories going different ways, we’re trying to get everyone on the same page so that there’s consistency in the regulations and the rules,” Albanese said.

The head of Australia’s peak healthcare worker body has called for the mandatory isolation period to be scrapped.

Health Services Union secretary Gerard Hayes said it was time for Australians to take personal responsibility for their health and treat COVID like any other infectious disease.

“This is trying to get ahead of that curve, so you can actually live with COVID going forward as opposed to continue responding and having a community that is not necessarily listening,” Hayes said.

“There’ll be people out there now not testing and we want to avoid that, we want a transparent, inclusive approach so people don’t have to make hard choices.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it was clear the country was moving into a phase of the pandemic with shorter isolation.

“The arrangements otherwise that were in place at the height of COVID will start to unwind, and I think that’s what the community expects,” Dutton told reporters in Melbourne.

“We’ll see more advancements in the immunisation program and that’s all a good thing, but people need to get back to work and people need to reunite with their families.”

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said any decision on isolation periods should be left to health experts.

“It’s very important that governments at a federal and state level listen to the very best health advice and they make decisions about isolation and other matters based on that health advice,” O’Neil said.

– with AAP