Covid strain Omicron arrives in Australia, as Tourism Minister Dan Tehan won’t rule out tougher international travel restrictions
Two overseas arrivals into Sydney have tested positive for the new strain of the Covid virus known as Omicron.
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Two overseas arrivals into Sydney have tested positive for the new strain of the Covid virus known as Omicron.
Both people arrived in Sydney on Qatar Airways QR908, from Doha to Sydney, which arrived about 7pm on Saturday. The two tested positive to Covid and genome sequencing has confirmed it is the new Omicron strain.
Both travellers were fully vaccinated and have been put into special health accommodation. It is understood they are asymptomatic.
Passengers and crew on the same flight are considered close contacts and have been ordered to isolate.
AUSSIES FACE TOUGHER INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL RULES
Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has refused to rule out tougher international travel restrictions as more becomes known about the new Covid variant Omicron.
Australia has effectively shut its borders to nine countries in the southern African region in a bid to curb the spread of the new variant.
And while the federal government is not looking to close its international borders entirely, Mr Tehan would not rule out imposing tougher restrictions if Australia’s top medical experts advise it.
He told Sky News the government would follow the advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC).
“We’re taking a very cautionary approach in stopping direct flights and stopping people who have been in those countries from coming to Australia, or if you’re Australian you have to do 14 days quarantine,” Mr Tehan said.
“We’ve taken a cautionary approach, that’s what we’ll continue to take as we work through what this variant is all about and what potential impacts it may have.”
FEARS OMICRON MAY BE ON AUSSIE SHORES AS PM SPEAKS OUT
Scott Morrison says the new Covid variant is concerning, after moving from a variant of investigation to a variant of concern in 24 hours.
The Prime Minister spoke with Daniel Andrews and Dominic Perrottet on Saturday and says he backs their move to introduce a 72-hour isolation period for people arriving from overseas.
“These very fast moving issues that will continue as we always have sensible balanced, guided by the best possible medical evidence and medical expert advice,” Mr Morrison said.
“But our intention, let’s not forget what the ultimate objective is here in this global pandemic, is to open safely and remain safely open.
“I’m quite encouraged by the fact that despite that we still have over 1000 cases on most days in Victoria, Victoria’s health and hospital system is standing up extremely well.
“It’s standing up in fact better than what the Doherty Institute modelling suggests.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has vowed for “the moment” to stick with plans to further reopen the state in mid-December despite concerns over the new Covid variant Omicron.
It comes as Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned the new strain might already be on NSW shores after two international travellers from southern Africa who arrived at Sydney Airport on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.
“This clearly demonstrates that the pandemic is not over. The best thing that we can do is get vaccinated and get booster shots,” Mr Hazzard said.
“Vaccination saves lives. As we move through our booster program, if it’s been six months since you received the second dose of a vaccine, you can now receive a booster shot.”
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the virus was not “well understood” at this point.
“Delta … took only three weeks to get across 53 nations,” he said. “So we have to expect that it may well be here.”
Health officials have ordered genomic sequencing after two international travellers from southern Africa arrived at Sydney Airport on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.
Urgent tests are being carried out to determine if the travellers were infected with the Omicron variant.
NSW is set to ease restrictions on December 15 or when the state reaches 95 per cent double vaccination rates.
“At the moment we’re sticking to that plan,” Mr Perrottet told Sky News on Sunday.
“There are obviously challenges that will always come our way. This is just another example that Covid is going to be with us for some time.
“The best thing we can do as a state is keep that vaccination level as high as possible. We’re rolling out booster shots across the state.”
From December 15, restrictions will ease for unvaccinated people while masks will only be required for public transport, on planes, at airports and for unvaccinated front-of-house hospitality staff.
Authorities are working to determine if the two positive cases have been infected with the Omicron variant – a concerning new variant which reportedly has more than 30 mutations and been shown to be highly transmissible.
Two travellers tested positive after arriving on Qatar Airways flight QR908 from Doha which arrived in Sydney about 7pm on Saturday.
Urgent genomic sequencing is underway to determine if they were infected by the new Omicron B. 1.1.529 variant of concern, NSW Health said on Sunday.
The infected passengers have been transported to special health accommodation where they will undertake 14 days of quarantine.
It comes as authorities are waiting on test results of a positive case who returned from South Africa to the NT.
While there are no direct flights between South Africa – where the Omicron variant originated – and Australia, 20 people were repatriated last week and are quarantining at Howard Springs.
One person has so far tested positive.
Authorities are yet to rule out whether the person has the Omicron variant.
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Saturday said he had spoken to his Northern Territory counterpart, and authorities were attempting to pin down the specifics of the case, with an update expected later on Saturday.
Mr Hunt said as it stands, there are no cases of Omicron in Australia.
But, authorities are also attempting to track down at least 100 Australians who recently arrived in Australia from the nine African nations without quarantine – as is the new norm in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
Chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly said he had been in touch with his state counterparts to enlist their help in mitigating any risk of outbreak.
“I can’t give an accurate figure right now, but we’re working with jurisdictions and with others to make sure this is the case,” he said.
The new developments come as Australia will close its borders immediately to nine African nations as the world races to contain a new Covid-19 variant.
In addition, Australians who have been to, or are due to arrive from in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique within the last 14 days will be ordered into immediate supervised quarantine.
Mr Hunt and Prof Kelly said the move was required after the World Health Organisation renamed B. 1.1.529 ‘Omicron’ a ‘variant of concern overnight.
In addition, non citizens who have been in those nine countries in the past 14 days will not be able to enter Australia.
Restrictions are also in place for international students and skilled migrants who have been in any of the nine countries in the past two weeks.
All flights from the nine countries have been suspended for 14 days “as a matter of precaution”.
Countries from around the world have rushed to ban flights from the region after the World Health Organisation on Friday declared the B. 1.1.529 strain discovered recently in South Africa ”a variant of concern” and renamed it Omicron.
The move puts it up there with the globally-dominant Delta variant and its predecessors Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt met Saturday with Secretary of the Department of Health Brendan Murphy and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly to discuss a response to the development.
Mr Hunt said anyone who was not an Australian citizen who has been in the African countries impacted by Omicron would not be permitted to enter Australia, as flights from nine countries were suspended for at least 14 days.
“Australian citizens and residents and their dependents arriving from these countries will need to go into immediate supervised quarantine for 14 days, as subject to the jurisdictional requirements of the relevant states or territories” Mr Hunt said.
The restrictions will apply to international students and skilled migrants arriving from travel bubbles who have been in any of the nine countries within the past 14 days.
“Anyone who has already arrived in Australia and who has been in any of the nine countries within the past 14 days must immediately isolate themselves and be tested for Covid-19 and follow jurisdictional quarantine requirements which will require quarantine for 14 days from the time of their departure from the relevant African countries,” he said.
Victorian health authorities are working alongside federal counterparts to understand the potential local implications of the new Covid variant.
In a statement on Saturday, the Department of Health said: “In response to the new Omicron B. 1.1.529 COVID-19 variant of concern, Victorian health authorities are working with our Commonwealth and state and territory colleagues to better understand the potential implications of this new variant and which mitigation strategies are required to keep Australians protected.”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is also implementing new measures, which will take effect at midnight Saturday.
*In line with Commonwealth measures, all travellers arriving in NSW who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Malawi, and the Seychelles during the 14 day period before their arrival in NSW must enter hotel quarantine for 14 days, irrespective of their vaccination status;
*All travellers who have been in any other overseas country during the 14 day period before their arrival in NSW must travel directly to their place of residence or accommodation and isolate for 72 hours, pending further health advice;
*All flight crew who have been overseas during the 14-day period before their arrival in NSW must travel directly to their place of residence or accommodation and isolate for 14 days or until their departure on another flight that leaves Australia, consistent with the current rules for unvaccinated flight crew;
*Anyone who has already arrived in NSW who has been in any of the nine African countries within the previous 14 days must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days, and call NSW Health on 1800 943 553;
*All unvaccinated travellers from any overseas country will continue to enter hotel quarantine.
james.campbell@news.com.au
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