NT declares Greater Sydney hotspot, travellers to be forcibly quarantined from Friday, July 17

TRAVELLERS from all of Sydney will be forced to spend two weeks in mandatory quarantine at their own expense if they come to the NT from Friday when our borders reopen

Queensland police check vehicles at the border with NSW ... travellers from Sydney will be forced to spend two weeks in mandatory quarantine at their own expense if they come to the NT from Friday. Picture: Nigel Hallett

• Parts of NSW to be declared hotspots by the NT as cluster cases rise
• AMA NT calls for Territory to bar NSW arrivals before borders reopen on Friday amid Casula COVID-19 outbreak
• Legal hurdles ‘prevent’ NT taking even harsher border measures
• NSW struggles to control COVID cluster linked to Sydney pub

TRAVELLERS from Greater Sydney will be forced to spend two weeks in mandatory quarantine at their own expense if they decide to come to the NT from Friday.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner declared the hotspot today, just two days out from the reopening of NT’s borders.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie will announce what areas in NSW have been declared COVID-19 hotspots.

Posted by The NT News on Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Greater Sydney has a population of 5.3 million.

The decision will be reviewed in two weeks.

It comes after a spike in cases in NSW linked to the Crossroads Hotel, located in the southwest Sydney suburb of Casula.

NSW recorded 13 new cases yesterday, including 10 linked to the Crossroads Hotel bringing the total number of infections related to that cluster now to 34.

Queensland has already named two Sydney suburbs, Campbelltown and Liverpool, as hotspots meaning anyone who has travelled there in the past 14 days will have to go into mandatory quarantine at an approved facility at their own expense.

South Australia, which was due to open its borders to NSW and ACT on Monday, officially revealed it would scrap the date. Territorians can still go to SA without quarantining.

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Victoria recorded a further 270 coronavirus cases yesterday. The state has 26 patients in intensive care and 21 people on ventilators.

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