Hotel quarantine ends for fully vaccinated Australians

Hotel quarantine is over for fully vaccinated Aussies, and its end means a bizarre but lucky twist for thousands currently locked away.

Hotel quarantine is finally over for fully vaccinated Australians in NSW and Victoria - a long-awaited change that will help thousands of stranded Aussies get home.

But in a wonderful twist for the more than 2000 Australians currently stuck in hotel quarantine across Sydney, their arduous, two-week-long stay will also be terminated today.

NSW Health confirmed fully vaccinated Australians currently in hotel quarantine would not have to serve out their full 14 days and would be free to go, provided they test negative to Covid.

NSW Health officials have been in touch with recently arriving Australians to confirm if they are eligible to leave.

Travellers must prove they’ve received two doses of a TGA-recognised coronavirus vaccine, on or before October 25.

“If all requirements are met, the team will confirm your eligibility for departure,” NSW Health said.

Hotel staff have been busy today, organising and checking out the thousands of Aussies currently in hotel quarantine across Sydney.

A returned traveller quarantining back in February. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

However, NSW Health warned travellers who arrived on October 31 to expect a slight delay.

“Due to the expected high volume of departures on November 1, people who have entered hotel quarantine on 31 October may not have their clearance completed until the afternoon of November 1. Please take this into account when making onward travel plans,” they said.

Travellers who spent more than 48 hours in hotel quarantine will be charged pro-rata for the number of days they spent in quarantine.

However, if they were taken to hotel quarantine after October 29, and depart on November 1, all fees will be waived.

Hotel quarantine costs more than $3000 for a the two week stay.

While travellers are free to go after leaving quarantine, they are still required to adhere to the rules in NSW, including wearing masks inside and on public transport, checking in with QR codes and embracing Covid-safe behaviour.

People who have left quarantine and are in the community on day seven after arriving into NSW are also required to get tested for Covid-19 on that day, regardless of symptoms.

Passengers escorted at Sydney International Airport yesterday are now free to go. Picture: James D Morgan/Getty Images

NSW Police can issue fines if returning travellers are not tested a week after their arrival.

Unvaccinated children under the age of 12 years will be treated as fully vaccinated for quarantine purposes and will be free to leave with their fully vaccinated parents.

If your child is between 12 and 17 and is unvaccinated, they are still free to leave quarantine early, provided all adults are fully vaccinated, however they must quarantine at home for seven days and get tested during that seven day period.

News.com.au previously spoke with a traveller returning on the night of October 31, hours before quarantine was due to end.

Gus Chalhoub and his 77-year-old mother were granted an exemption by the government to leave Australia in July to care for an elderly family member in Lebanon.

The mother and son, from the NSW city of Wollongong, had been in Lebanon since July 6 and were due to land in Sydney late on October 31.

Hotel quarantine has been an arduous process. Picture: Chris Kidd.

Their flight was moved to the night of November 1 a few days ago.

However, Mr Chalhoub spoke about his anxiety around hotel quarantine in October, before his flight was moved.

“Obviously it’s going to cost a lot – $4000 – and I did put in an exemption request but that was denied,” he said at the time.

“They said even though you’re both fully vaxxed, you’re both still high risk and you’re travelling from very far and you could potentially carry it from overseas.

“My mum also suffers from anxiety and from what I’ve heard, the quarantine is quite strict, it’s something that obviously we’ve never had to experience in the past and $4000 is a lot of money, considering how much we’ve spent to get to Lebanon, including the extra PCR tests we had to take.

“We're both law-abiding citizens, we’ve never had any issues with the law or the police.

“We would be more than happy to quarantine, get stuff delivered, get our groceries delivered, it’s just Mum and I at our house … we won’t run away or escape.”