COVID-19 flight fears: NSW Police to blame for German quarantine lapse
NSW Police have identified that officers at Sydney Airport incorrectly allowed the two international travellers fly on to Melbourne without quarantining yesterday.
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NSW Police had incorrectly allowed the two international travellers who arrived in Sydney to fly to Melbourne without quarantining, a mistake that has led to COVID alerts for 168 other people on their Virgin flight.
NSW police conducted the review after the two German nationals — a 53-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy — arrived at Sydney International Airport yesterday morning and were screened by NSW Health.
It’s believed they were directed to board a bus to hotel quarantine before they told police that they were booked to fly to Melbourne.
It’s believed police subsequently allowed the duo to then take the domestic flight to Melbourne under protocols for exempt travellers.
However, it was only upon their arrival in the Victorian capital that Victoria Health found they did not have an approved exemption.
Following an investigation, NSW Police acknowledged that it was police error that led to the incident.
“The NSW Police Force has since conducted a review into the circumstances of the incident and identified police had incorrectly allowed the two travellers to proceed to Melbourne,” a statement from police media said.
“Police practices and systems at the airport have also been reviewed and strengthened as a result of this incident.”
The incident was made public on Saturday night, when anyone who travelled on flight VA 838 from Sydney to Melbourne that afternoon was ordered to quarantine at home and contact Victorian health authorities.
There were 170 passengers and six crew on the flight.
Earlier on Sunday, the Australian Border Force released a statement saying its officers were not to blame.
The ABF said it is responsible only for clearing people who arrive in Australia from overseas, and the two travellers met all customs and immigration requirements.
“From that point, the responsibility for the passengers passes to state and territory authorities for hotel quarantine and onwards domestic travel, if relevant,” the statement said.
“The ABF will continue to assist state and territory authorities as required.”
ANTI-LOCKDOWN PROTESTERS RALLY ACROSS AUSTRALIA
Anti-lockdown and vaccine protests have been held across Australia, with hundreds gathering in Sydney to hear from COVID-19 sceptics at a self-described “freedom” rally.
The Sydney protest was observed by police but appeared to remain peaceful, with a NSW Police spokesperson confirming to NCA NewsWire there were no arrests.
The rallies took place despite more significant easing of restrictions in NSW and Victoria following weeks of extremely low or zero case numbers.
This weekend was the first of eased venue restrictions for NSW, with venues other than nightclubs and gyms now permitted to have one person per 2 sqm.
Victoria also announced major changes to its virus rules to take effect on Monday.
Hundreds gathered dressed in yellow in Sydney where speaker Youssra Yatim told the crowd it was not the government’s responsibility to protect the health of their children.
“It’s not the government’s job to tell us what’s in the best interests of our children,” she said.
“In fact, the governments sole purpose is to protect our freedoms and our rights.”
Former nurse Naomi Cook described COVID-19 as a “manufactured health crisis”, while another speaker said the forthcoming vaccine had been rushed.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told Sky News on Sunday morning he had complete confidence in the Therapeutic Goods Administration and medical experts, who had kept Australia safer than most countries in the world.
He urged against complacency about COVID-19 and said it remained a contagious and deadly virus.
“Vaccination is safe and nothing will be introduced unless it is shown to be absolutely safe for Australians,” he said.
A vaccine is expected to be available first for health workers and, subject to approval, senior Australians in residential care in March, Mr Hunt said.
“We’d like to see all Australians have access to and as many as possible take up the vaccine during the course of 2021,” he said.
“Vaccination is voluntary but we hope it’s taken up as widely as possible, especially by young Australians in their 20s and 30s,” he said.
He said the TGA had given priority assessment to three different vaccines.
“They’re going through the process of assessing the information from what are called clinical trials around the world where you have supervised medical processes with a defined group of people,” he said on Sunday.
“They’re looking at the data ... safety is non-negotiable and the number one priority in our vaccine programs.
“They’re (also) looking at effectiveness, and if they deem those tests to have been met and to have been well met, then they’ll provide an approval.
“There’ll be more data, more vaccines that come in. We have four in our program, but around the world there are over 200 vaccines in development and over 40 in clinical trials.”
Rallies were also held in other cities around the country, including Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Cairns and Canberra.
As of 3.30pm AEDT no arrests had been reported.
Previous anti-lockdown and freedom protests in Melbourne were marred by outbreaks of violence, hundreds of arrests and a controversial police crowd control technique called “kettling”.
CAR RENTAL EMPLOYEE HELPED AUTHORITIES FIND PAIR
A Sydney Airport car rental employee has been revealed as the whistleblower who alerted authorities to two German travellers who bypassed quarantine in Sydney to get on a Virgin flight to Melbourne yesterday.
The pair are now in mandatory quarantine in Melbourne, and have both tested negative to COVID-19.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said a car rental employee noticed something was amiss and raised the alarm. He thanked the employee and said he hoped the employer recognised his actions.
“They’ve done a really, really good job,” he said.
The couple are now the first people in Victoria’s rebooted hotel quarantine program.
“These people — it seems they are in a queue, waiting to get on a bus to go to hotel quarantine. Next minute they’re not in that queue much, they are instead making quite — if you know Sydney Airport, quite an overland journey to get to the other terminal,” he said.
“Tickets have been purchased en route, then they’ve got on the plane and made their way here.
“We picked it up, we are very grateful that we were able to do that, but there should be no sense of criticism by anybody in our state, but each of us, if there is learnings across the board, then we should look at whatever the investigation in NSW throws up, and I’m not here to criticise NSW — it’s happened, I can’t change that.
“All we can do is work together as closely as possible to make sure it doesn’t happen again and I’m really confident we will be able to do that.”
Passengers on the Virgin flight have been urged by Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services to immediately self isolate.
The health alert comes as Victoria records its 37th consecutive day without a COVID-19 case.
Mr Andrews announced the easing of more restrictions in the state at a media conference on Sunday morning.
Victorians will be able to have 30 visitors from multiple households to their home from midnight tonight.
Pubs and restaurants will be able to have one person per two square metres for indoor and outdoor venues, with no cap on the number of patrons.
Restrictions on weddings, funerals and religious gatherings have also been eased, moving to a one person to two square metre rule.
“This is a remarkable achievement. It is something that every Victorian owns, it is something that every Victorian has built through the sacrifice, through all that they have given up,
the character that they have shown, and the compassion that they have extended to each other,” Mr Andrews said.
It is not known when the travellers arrived from Germany before travelling from Sydney to Melbourne.
The Virgin Airways flight VA838 departed Sydney at midday on Saturday and landed in Melbourne at 1.25pm.
The international arrivals will also be tested for COVID-19 on day 11 of their hotel quarantine stay in Melbourne.
Victorian authorities said all close contacts of the international arrivals had been contacted by Sunday morning.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt also asked Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram to work with NSW to “understand the circumstances” about the apparent breach.
A Border Force spokesman said the agency only has jurisdiction at the border.
“Responsibility for passengers passes to State and Territory authorities” after the travellers clear customs, the Border Force spokesman said.
NSW Health was contacted for comment.
NO NEW COVID CASES
NSW announced zero new local cases of COVID-19 and five in hotel quarantine on Sunday morning as the state remains on high alert following a hotel quarantine worker testing positive earlier this week.
The worker remains in isolation after their positive test on Wednesday and no close or community contacts have contracted COVID-19.
There were 9827 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday night.
Investigations continue into how the woman contracted the virus, but genomic sequencing indicates she could have contracted it from American airline workers who were isolating at the hotel.
The promising figure of zero local cases comes as NSW enjoys its first weekend of significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Under the new rules people can gather in groups of 50 outside, and venues — except for nightclubs and gyms — can scrap the 4 sqm rule in favour of one person per 2 sqm.
THE GIGS ARE BACK, BABY!
Sydney has woken from its pandemic slumber when it comes to arena-sized gigs, and you can’t wipe the smile off our faces.
There was a palpable sense of joy on Saturday night when Bernard Fanning headlined the second of two shows at Qudos Bank Arena dubbed Greatest Southern Nights, the biggest indoor events held in Australia since March, designed to kickstart the ailing live music industry after coronavirus wiped it out for months.
And it even featured a cheeky Footloose joke from the former Powderfinger frontman, a reference to the fact the socially distanced punters were unable to stand up and dance under the strict COVID-19 protocols.
Read more about James Law’s gig review here.
ANTI-VAXXERS TOLD: IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT YOU
Vaccination against COVID-19 will not be mandatory, but the man overseeing its delivery to Australia has a message to anti-vaxxers: “It’s not just about you.”
The Australian government has agreements to secure four of the most promising vaccines, with Therapeutic Goods Administration head John Skerritt responsible for their approval for use.
Describing the vaccine development effort as the “biggest thing in medicine in the last 100 years” the former medical researcher said while vaccination would remain an individual decision, those thinking about giving it a miss were strongly urged to consider the community.
“It’s not something you do for yourself,” he said.
“It’s something you do for your wider family and for the public good and that’s why it’s so important, because you might be a fit young 25-year-old, but what about your aunty or grandma?
“Think about the broader community. It’s not just about you. Think about what your position might do to your grandmother, your neighbour’s grandmother or just someone you might walk past at Coles or Woolworths — that little old lady you’ve never met. You may not get sick … but think about just what you might do to that lady in Woolworths.
“We recognise that at the end of the day it will be your right of choice as to whether to be vaccinated, but we encourage all people to think about the broader public good.”
Around the world about 200 COVID-19 candidate vaccines are being developed, with more than 40 in human clinical trial stage.
Mr Skerritt, who says he is operating on “four to five hours’” sleep and has effectively told his team to cancel summer — “I told them to put their swimsuits back in the cupboard” — is hoping for the first vaccine to pass through the approval process in early January, with the rollout to occur as early as March.
With the UK rolling out vaccines on incomplete data as part of an emergency response, Australia was at an advantage in being able to see if there were any safety issues.
“We’ll also have more experience on how safe and effective these vaccines are,” he said.
“Instead of, say, having a few months’ data, we’ll have a few months’ data more.”
As for possible side effects, Mr Skerritt said these would be monitored globally, though the evidence to date was that they were no different to existing vaccines.
These included possible headache, dizziness or tiredness, all of which disappeared in a day or so.
“If it’s the difference between a headache and COVID, I know which one I’ll take,” Mr Skerritt said.
“Then there’s rare side effects. The trials have shown not anything too serious. But we aren't sweeping anything under the carpet. Our job is to work out when (something) might be due to the vaccines.”
Most serious side effects occurred about six weeks after vaccination and among the groups of people that had already been vaccinated, nothing serious had emerged.
Getting the vaccines here safely was another focus, with a massive security operation being planned to transport the priority cargo to Australia.
In the case of the Pfizer vaccine, which has to be kept at minus 70C, it will be shipped by air and kept in dry ice with “a small IT device” attached to each batch to remotely transmit whether any individual pot had heated up accidentally.
Cameras, and in some cases security officers, will guard against theft and potential contamination.
Responding to concerns in the non-medical community as to the speed at which the vaccines were being rolled out, Mr Skerritt said the pace was only being made possible because of the unprecedented effort and the “hundreds of billions” of dollars being thrown at a vaccine. Not even the effort to find a cure for HIV AIDS could compare.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said the “technical goal” was to have more than 60 per cent of Australians vaccinated, although he was aiming for more than 90 per cent.
NOW IT’S TIME TO PARTY
It’s party time in NSW, as the state government extends hotel and club trading hours for major events next year.
In a move to help revive hospitality businesses after one of the toughest years for the industry, the government has regulated to resume extended trading from the standard Sunday 10pm closing time to midnight during major events.
The extensions will apply to events such as the Australian Open tennis, Vivid, the NRL grand final and the Coonamble Rodeo and Campdraft.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said extended trading would give the public more time to enjoy major sports and arts events.
“This year, the people of this state have earned the right to watch their favourite sporting event to the death-knell at their favourite pub,” he said. “And the COVID Safe venues have earned the right to show them.”
The government traditionally allows for extended trading on an event-by-event basis.
However, COVID meant many licensed venues could not take advantage of the extended hours.
The extensions will apply to venues providing a live broadcast of the event, such as the Dettol T20 International Cricket Series – Australia v India, on today.
Australian Hotels Association NSW Liquor and Policing director John Green welcomed Mr Dominello ensuring extended trading would continue.
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