It comes as, Ms Berejiklian revealed the New Year’s fireworks display in the Sydney CBD at midnight would “definitely” be going ahead.“It will be happening no matter what,” Ms Berejiklian said.“I’ll certainly be watching it at home. We encourage everybody else to do that as well.“We have at this stage provided some access for frontline workers and others, but again, everything is reassessed based on the most recent cluster of cases.”Last month Melbourne City Council confirmed that Melbourne’s spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks display will not ahead this year because of the pandemic.The $3.4 million celebration that usually draws about 400,000 people to the inner city will be replaced by a more low-key food and drink experience.Victoria has not recorded any community transmission in almost 60 days.
Victoria has just 10 active cases in quarantine.It comes as airlines threaten to divert their crews to Sydney rather than fly into Melbourne due to different COVID-19 testing regimes. One airline has already diverted a plane to Sydney due to the less-stringent checks for flight crews. It is understood the NSW government, grappling with a COVID cluster in Sydney, is looking at more testing but is hamstrung by legislation. The focus of its health team is also on local transmission.Melbourne’s COVID-19 testing for crews is at a much higher level, which is causing anxiety among airlines because of the need to dispatch crews to other flights. A new Victorian policy came into effect at noon on Wednesday and will require the mandatory quarantine of international airline staff to prevent infected overseas airline staff from bringing COVID-19 into Victoria.The issue was discussed by health ministers on Wednesday and is causing concern due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in NSW and the risk of outbreaks from international arrivals. It may also affect traffic at Melbourne Airport, which has already been decimated by the coronavirus crisis. Until now, airline crew were not covered by the quarantine rules passengers were. “Airline crews and technicians employed by international carriers who transit through Melbourne are now required by law to enter mandatory quarantine,” a Victorian government spokeswoman said. “We’ve taken this approach as an additional precaution to help reduce the risk of airline staff inadvertently bringing the virus back to Australia. “These measures are consistent with practices already in place in other jurisdictions, including in New South Wales and Queensland.”International airline staff will be tested for coronavirus on arrival at their quarantine hotel and made to stay there until their next flight, provided they return a negative test result. Those who test positive will be required to isolate in health hotels until they are no longer infectious.
INFECTION CLOUD LIFTS OVER SYDNEY TRAVELLERVictoria’s 54-day streak without community transmission remains unbroken after the close contacts of a 15-year-old girl who contracted COVID-19 tested negative for the virus.Public health officials on Wednesday confirmed the girl, who had been tested twice, did not appear to have infected anyone else, including two people who had been living in the same house and her mother, who travelled with her on the car trip back from Sydney to the Moonee Valley local government area.They are still required to isolate for 14 days, but the results means there are no high-risk exposure sites for Victoria and secondary contacts will no longer need to quarantine.Victoria’s testing commander, Jeroen Weimar, said the results were welcome news but urged all Victorians to remain vigilant as thousands of people with permits return from NSW.Anyone returning from the greater Sydney area without a valid permit will be put into hotel quarantine under border controls that took effect this week.Mr Weimar said the girl may not have infected others because of the virus’s incubation period.“People are not equally infectious to other people,” he said.
“It may well be entirely possible that this girl continues her infectious cycle and that nobody else in the household contracts COVID-19.”Mr Weimar said there would be as many as 60 testing sites open over Christmas and Boxing Day in Victoria, but local GPs and other smaller venues might not have regular opening hours.“The virus doesn’t stop for Christmas; we don’t stop for Christmas,” Mr Weimar said.“If you’ve got symptoms on Christmas Day, go and get tested on Christmas Day.”It comes after a communication bungle led to several people being told to isolate over Christmas and New Year after visiting a testing site in Melbourne over the past week.Several people who visited the hospital for a test were texted on Wednesday morning informing them they were close contacts of a positive case and needed to isolate, even if their test was negative.A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the error and apologised for the inconvenience.
“We have followed up with this hospital to correct the messaging error, and they have confirmed they will send a follow-up SMS with the right instructions,” she said.Eight cases of local transmission were confirmed in NSW overnight on Tuesday — seven linked to the Avalon cluster — from more than 42,000 test results.The other case is linked to a healthcare worker who transported an infectious family returning from the US to a quarantine facility.NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday laid out new rules on get-togethers.Most Sydneysiders will be allowed to have Christmas with up to 10 family and friends at home, not including children under 12. After Boxing Day, the restrictions will revert to 10 in a home including children under 12.
NSW COVID zones
But residents in the northern region of the northern beaches, at the epicentre of the cluster, will be restricted to five others from the same region being allowed in their homes.Business and tourism leaders have called for a more consistent national approach to border shutdowns and coronavirus hot spots.The Business Council of Australia, the National Farmers Federation, the Australian Retailers Association and other industry groups urged for greater clarity.They warned the current system created too much uncertainty for businesses, with each closure creating major scheduled problems for freight operators and airlines New research by the Australian Airports Association found 52 per cent of travellers were discouraged from booking too far in advance over fears of lockdowns.
NED-1859 State of our borders
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