NT Government declares 10 Victorian suburbs as coronavirus hot spots

TEN Melbourne suburbs have been declared coronavirus hot spots for anyone travelling into the NT

UPDATE 3pm: TEN Melbourne suburbs have been declared coronavirus hot spots for anyone travelling into the NT.

The suburbs include: Melbourne, West Melbourne, Noble Park, Keysborough, Springvale, Brighton, Wheelers Hill, Clayton South, Heatherton and Moorabbin.

Anyone arriving in the NT after 3.30pm on Thursday will be required to enter mandatory supervised quarantine, while anyone already here who has been in one of the hot spots is directed to self-isolated and get tested.

Anyone who has arrived in the Territory since January 29 and has been in the 10 hot spot suburbs must self-isolate until they return a negative COVID-19 test.

Australian Open tennis players and officials in quarantine ahead of the Australian Open. at the Grand Hyatt. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

Plane passengers already in the air will be met at the airport and interviewed, with those who have been in one of the hot spots offered a free stay at Howard Springs or the opportunity to catch the next flight back.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said while he had confidence in Victorian authorities ability to manage the situation, “it’s best to go hard and be extra cautious until we know more”.

“We are always cautious because we are the safest place in Australia and we want to stay that way,” he said.

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EARLIER: NORTHERN Territory’s authorities will meet early this afternoon to discuss the COVID-19 situation in Melbourne, where a man working within the Australian Open hotel quarantine system tested positive for the virus.

The man had been working at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne and tested positive on Wednesday, sparking a late night scramble to control a potential outbreak.

Victorian authorities were dealing with 600 work close contacts who had come into contact with the man over two weeks at the hotel, with all told to isolate and get tested.

Chief Minister Michael Gunne, right,and Chief Health Office Dr Hugh Heggie. Picture Glenn Campbell

More than 500 Australian Open players and staff, who were ‘casual contacts’, have also been asked to test and isolate.

Northern Territory’s Security and Emergency Subcommittee of Cabinet (SEMC), which includes Chief Minister Michael Gunner and chief health officer Dr Hugh Heggie, will meet early this afternoon to discuss what measures if any the jurisdiction will impose on travellers coming from Melbourne.

Two flights from Melbourne are due to land in the Territory at 11am, one at Darwin Airport and one at Alice Springs airport.

The NT has been quick to declare COVID-19 hot spots and impose two weeks of quarantine for travellers from impacted areas.

Late on Sunday the Territory imposed restrictions on travellers from 47 local government areas in the Perth, Peel and South West regions of West Australia after the state’s Premier called a five-day snap lockdown due to a hotel quarantine worker contracting coronavirus.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has imposed new statewide restrictions including reducing the number of people who can gather in a household and making masks mandatory in public indoor spaces again.

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Unlike his counterparts in Queensland and WA, Mr Andrews has not imposed a snap-lockdown due to a hotel quarantine coronavirus leak.

South Australia on Thursday morning indicated its border with Victoria would stay open.