Premier Peter Gutwein to provide Covid update on first full day of lockdown
Premier Peter Gutwein is calling for police to increase their punishment for the man who breached hotel quarantine and forced southern Tasmania into a three-day lockdown. LATEST >>
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Premier Peter Gutwein is this morning providing a Covid update. Watch the stream below.
Saturday, October 16:
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has confirmed that no new Covid cases have been recorded as the state’s south enters its first full day of a snap lockdown.
“I firstly wanted to thank Tasmanians in the south for their co-operation at this critical time,” Mr Gutwein said.
“I must admit it did fill me with great sadness, walking past the businesses that were closed (last night).
“We’ve acted swiftly, we’ve acted decisively, with a view to not letting this get away from us.”
“We have no further cases.”
Mr Gutwein confirmed contact tracers have reported we now have 158 primary close contacts that we’re working with, which includes the group that was at Woolworths Bridgewater — one of the exposure sites the NSW man visited after he absconded from hotel quarantine.
“In the past 24 hours, there have been 1402 tests … that has been a record day for testing,” he said.
“We have no further positive tests and those run through the laboratory have all been negative.”
“The women’s BBL games will go on as scheduled but with no crowds and in a Covid-safe bubble.”
People forced into 14-day quarantine are eligible for $1500 pandemic leave payment, plus state government grants of $250 per adult, $150 per child if asked to go into quarantine or directed to take a test.
Mr Gutwein said he would be talking to Tasmania Police to increase the punishment for the 31-year-old New South Wales man who breached hotel quarantine and was not co-operating with authorities.
He was given two fines totalling $3100.
“It’s not lost anyone that it’s taken one individual to do the wrong thing and leave the heavy lifting to everyone else. That is just not on,” Mr Gutwein said.
“The fine is not in line with the crime.”
The Premier said he’d spoken with Tasmania Police about slapping the man with heavier charges.
“I’ve asked Tasmania Police to consider all options to ensure the book can be thrown at this individual.
“(He’s) now put southern Tasmania into this stay at home period for three days.”
The NSW man who brought the Delta strain into Tasmania could potentially face up to six months in jail.
Tasmania Police deputy commissioner Donna Adams police would “continue to look at his actions”.
“If there are other examples of offending, we’ll be seeking to investigate those matters.”
“We will investigate this male’s actions surrounding the q breaches and any other offending we identify,” she said.
She said a magistrate could consider jailing the man for up to six months, “depending on what the offending behaviour is.
“He’s been extremely uncooperative and difficult to deal with.”
Assistant commissioner Adams also said in the past 24 hours, 28 other people had been issued with advice notices and a further six had copped infringement notices for flouting Covid rules.
She also said the force had conducted a number of compliance checks over the past 16 hours for those in mandatory quarantine, and that compliance with the rules had been high.
Premier Peter Gutwein said he was “very annoyed” about the man’s actions.
“It annoys me, it angers me, that this individual has flaunted the rules,” he said.
The Premier asked Tasmanians to follow the rules and remember to wash and sanitise, and follow hygiene protocol.
He also reminded Tasmanians to book in for a vaccination, if they had not already done so.
Dr Mark Veitch said Public Health had received 40 results back from contacts of the Covid-positive man that were negative.
“We’ll get further results back today and tomorrow,” Dr Veitch said.
“The sort of things that will influence the decision on removing the lockdown or varying the requirements of the lockdown depend on whether we get any cases from the contacts that we’ve identified and the circumstances …”
“At this stage, we haven’t got any further newly-defined exposure sites.”
Dr Veitch said the “very high testing rates” that were occurring at the clinic at Gagebrook and MacQ Point was good news.
“My strong advice to people in Hobart generally is to get tested if you’ve got the slightest sniffle, if there’s any reason you think you could be part of the circle of contact of the case,” he said.
“I’ll provide a rationale for the decision on Monday.”
Friday, October 15:
SOUTHERN Tasmania is in a snap lockdown as of 6pm Friday night until 6pm Monday, Premier Peter Gutwein announced yesterday.
Mr Gutwein said the NSW man who escaped hotel quarantine and later tested positive to the Delta strain of Covid had not been cooperative, leading to inconsistencies in his movements.
Because authorities were unsure of his movements, Mr Gutwein said the snap lockdown was necessary to keep Tasmanians safe and ensure the virus had not spread in the community.
>> EXPLAINED: What you can and can’t do in Tassie’s 3-day lockdown
The Premier said it took two days to find out that the man had been to Woolworths in Bridgewater.
A close contact of the man breached home quarantine and has been picked up by police.
The lockdown is due to end at 6pm on Monday night.
The lockdown applies to the Brighton, Central Highlands, Clarence, Derwent Valley, Glamorgan Spring Bay Council, Glenorchy, Hobart, Huon Valley, Kingborough, Sorell, Southern Midlands and Tasman Peninsula local government areas.
The remainder of the state is not in lockdown.
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Public Health Director, Dr Mark Veitch, said he was disappointed to be sharing such news.
“However, as the Premier has said, we have always been ready to go into a short, sharp lockdown to mitigate risk to Tasmania,’’ he said.
“At this moment we are at the highest risk of having Covid transmission in our state at any time this year.”
The Covid-positive man travelled to Tasmania on Monday night and tested positive on Wednesday morning.
Dr Veitch said the man spent an estimated 18 hours in the community.
There are 39 primary close contacts who are at highest risk of catching Covid from the man. Seventeen of those people have tested negative, with the remaining 22 results expected to be returned today or tomorrow.
State health commander Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said people were allowed to leave home to be tested for Covid-19, or to be vaccinated against the virus.
Testing clinic opening hours extended
Opening hours for Hobart’s Macquarie Point testing clinic have been extended until 9pm Friday night.
There has been significant demand at the Gagebrook clinic today, with people at the back of the queue redirected to Macquarie Point.
A third site will be stood up at the Derwent Entertainment Centre tomorrow.
Vaccination clinics will be open from 9am until 9pm during the lockdown period.
No visitors are permitted to enter hospitals in southern Tasmania except on compassionate grounds.
The same rule applies to aged care facilities.
The latest vaccination figures show 82.4 per cent of eligible Tasmanians have been vaccinated against Covid-19, while 67.6 per cent are fully vaccinated.
A joint statement from the Civil Contractors Federation, Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Master Builders Association has acknowledged the difficult decision.
“This lockdown will come as a significant blow to all of the businesses we represent. We trust that financial support will be made available to any and all businesses impacted by this lockdown,’’ the statement read.
“The Tasmanian economy cannot sustain a prolonged lockdown and we are concerned that in other states “short, sharp lockdowns” have turned into months.
“Zero Covid is a thing of the past. Only today, NSW announced they will open to quarantine-free international travel from 1 November.”
“We note that both NSW and Victoria lifted their lockdowns after 70 per cent double vaccination rates and with Tasmania only days away from the same mark, we trust that our lockdown will not be extended beyond the promised three days.”
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