Flying is terrifying when there are police, army intimidating you at every turn

It’s easy to forget outside Tasmania’s bubble that the country is in the middle of a pandemic – and in any capital city on the mainland there are swathes of police and army officers intimidating you at every corner, writes Cas Garvey.

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YOU know you’re in the middle of a pandemic when the number of police and army officers in the arrivals lounge outnumber passengers on a plane.

The intimidating arrival into Brisbane Airport this week was a stark reminder this virus is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Having lived in Tasmania’s ‘bubble’ for a few months now — where there is zero community transmission and normality has somewhat returned — it’s easy to forget that.

Because Tasmanians continue to do the right thing with personal hygiene, social distancing and undergoing strict quarantine, we’ve managed to so far keep a second wave at bay.

Jetstar flight JQ 705 arrives at Hobart. Picture Chris Kidd

But having to fly interstate for family reasons this week, it’s easy to see why so many Mercury survey respondents are terrified of letting a second wave in to our island state.

Waiting at the gate, families sat either side of empty cordoned-off seats (1.5m apart) and a father struggled to keep a mask over his young daughter’s mouth and nose.

The flight from Hobart to Brisbane was about half empty, with many rows of seats vacant and the middle seats unoccupied.

Jetstar flight JQ 705 arrives at Hobart from Melbourne. Picture Chris Kidd

After watching the flight attendants go through the safety procedure while wearing masks and sanitising their hands, they announced no food would be served on board.

Arriving in Brisbane, it was immediately clear this was a changed world.

That morning, a new virus cluster had emerged west of Brisbane at the Youth Detention Centre and a number of southeast suburbs had contact tracing notifications.

The queue to show our approved border declaration passes moved relatively slow, and a masked police officer grumbled loudly that we must have our photo IDs ready to show the officials.

Temperature check stations were scattered around the airport, however I didn’t see anyone actually using them.

An incoming passenger is screened by police as she arrives at Brisbane domestic airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

The usually bustling airport was like a ghost town — with literally only one option open for a coffee and bite to eat before my connecting flight to North Queensland.

But food choices aside, the anxiety I felt taking this one trip for family reasons immediately put into perspective just how stressful it would be for our FIFO workers and residents who have to regularly transit in and out of the state.

Now after yesterday’s news the Tasmanian Government has identified a number of Queensland hot spots for returning travellers, the stress levels have amplified.

While I won’t be spending time in southeast Queensland, it raises questions of whether or not Brisbane Airport will be affected.

And it seems I’m not the only one confused with the travel rules, with many commenting on social media and via the Mercury survey that the G2G process needs to be improved and transparent.

We need to ensure returning Tasmanians have certainty they’ll be allowed to quarantine at home a lot longer than just seven days before the day of travel — not have them scared they’ll be turned around once they arrive in Hobart.