Coronavirus: Premier Peter Gutwein vows mercy flights continue despite positive arrivals

Coronavirus mercy flights will continue travelling to Tasmania, despite three arrivals ending the state’s four-month Covid-free run.

Premier Peter Gutwein during the COVID-19 update. Picture Chris Kidd

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has vowed to continue to accept coronavirus mercy flights despite three recent arrivals testing positive for the virus, ending his state’s four-month run without cases.

Mr Gutwein reassured Tasmanians they were not at risk from the cases – a woman in her 30s and her two children aged under 10 – who arrived on a repatriation flight from Delhi on Sunday and tested positive on Tuesday night.

“The virus is not loose in our community; it is contained in isolation,” Mr Gutwein said, declaring the state would not back away from a promise to accept at least three more mercy flights.

“We are Australians and … we are doing our bit. Compassion is not an optional extra. We have Australians who are in difficulties overseas. There are more than 100,000 of them that are looking to return to this country.

“Many Tasmanians have already returned through other states and territories…It’s important that we do our share.”

Tasmania is due to accept at least another three mercy flights – for Australians seeking to return from abroad – and Mr Gutwein said he would follow through on his promise to accommodate 450 in local quarantine hotels.

The woman and her two children were on Wednesday being transferred from hotel quarantine to the Royal Hobart Hospital for assessment. The last COVID-19 case confirmed in Tasmania was 119 days ago.

Health officials said the woman had symptoms while her two children did not and her husband had tested negative.

If deemed not in need of hospital care, the three patients would be transferred to hospital-run hotel facilities at the Fountainside building elsewhere in the city, separate from the other arrivals.

Public Health Director Mark Veitch said the cases posed “no risk to everyday Tasmanians” and the state’s hotel quarantine system was robust and had taken “pearls” of learning from experiences in other jurisdictions.

Dr Veitch said Qantas, which did not test children aged under 12 ahead of flights, had been informed of the cases. All personnel involved in managing the recent arrivals were being tested for the virus.