Greater Sydney, Wollongong and Blue Mountains declared Covid-19 hot spots by NT Health

NT Health has declared Greater Sydney, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains hot spots for the purpose of travel to the Territory.

GREATER Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong have all been declared Covid-19 hot spots by NT Health.

In an announcement on Wednesday afternoon, NT Health Minister Natasha Fyles said the decision was made following a meeting of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Arrivals after 6pm Wednesday night from declared hot spots will be required to isolate at Howard Springs for a fortnight.

“Sydney Airport, for the purposes of transit, remains that you can transit through (without quarantine),” Ms Fyles said.

“There is concern around three cases where the linkage is not known, and there’s also concern around the very brief contact that allows for transmission.”

Ms Fyles apologised to tourism operators and travellers inconvenienced, but said the decision was a “proportionate step” taken on the advice of the chief health officer.

“We do apologise,” she said.

“We know this is going to ruin some people’s school holiday plans, but we have to take these steps to keep the community safe.”

It follows New South Wales health authorities detecting 16 new positive cases of the virus on Wednesday morning.

Minister Natasha Fyles announced the hotspot. Picture: Glenn Campbell

South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia have also slammed their borders shut on either Greater Sydney or the whole of NSW, while Queensland has also declared some local councils within Sydney as hot spots.

The virus circulating in Sydney is the Delta variant, which is considered highly infectious.

Public health officials have warned Delta can be spread more easily through “fleeting” contact than other strains of the virus.

More to come.

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