NT declares all of NSW a hotspot for purposes of travel as outbreak worsens
The Northern Territory has declared all of regional New South Wales a Covid hotspot, which now means that travellers from anywhere in the entire state are now required to enter mandatory quarantine when coming to the NT.
Northern Territory
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THE NT Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie has declared regional New South Wales a hotspot.
It means the whole of NSW is now a hotspot, for the purposes of travel to the NT.
It comes into effect at 5pm today.
Hot spots have already been declared for Greater Sydney, Sydney surrounds and the Illawarra and Central West Region.
The hotspot declaration follows on from continuing high case numbers in New South Wales as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve and spread.
The COVID-19 Delta variant has proven to be highly infectious, increasing the risk of community spread to the Northern Territory and other parts of Australia.
Anyone who arrives in the Northern Territory, who has been in regional New South Wales after 5pm on July 27, must undertake 14 days of mandatory, supervised quarantine at the Alice Springs or Howard Springs quarantine facilities.
Anyone who has left the areas of regional New South Wales covered by this declaration, before 5pm on July 27 is able to enter the Territory without having to undertake quarantine. Dr Heggie said the hotspot declaration did not extend back the usual 14 days.
If you are intending to travel to the Northern Territory from a COVID-19 Hotspot you are advised to rethink your plans.
If you are a Territorian intending to travel to a hotspot you are advised to rethink your plans.
Dr Heggie will continue to review and assess the COVID-19 situation across Australia, and will take into account COVID-19 monitoring and data collection, the extent of community transmission and risks to the NT community.
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“The significant COVID-19 outbreak in New South Wales continues to grow with high cases numbers being reported,” Dr Heggie said.
“The Delta strain of COVID-19 has proven to be more infectious and virulent and we have seen it spread into regional New South Wales through the movement of essential workers or breaches of quarantine and lockdown restrictions.
“We are being pre-emptive in declaring regional New South Wales a hotspot as we do not know where any future cases of COVID-19 may occur in these areas and this poses an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of Territorians.
“There are also significant numbers of eligible people in New South Wales who have not yet had their COVID-19 vaccine.”
Originally published as NT declares all of NSW a hotspot for purposes of travel as outbreak worsens
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