New South Wales has made it compulsory for returned international travellers to undergo a coronavirus test on their 10th day of hotel quarantine, as Victoria enters the third day of its testing blitz across Melbourne hotspots.
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By Joseph Dunstan
Victorian presser not far away….we hope
When will get updated information from Victoria??
-Kelly
We’ve been told about midday is when the Victorian press conference will be held.
I’ll bring you the details as quickly and coherently as I can (finding the balance is always the tricky bit), but you should be able to catch most of it on the ABC News stream as well.
By Joseph Dunstan
Melbourne’s ‘hotspots’ are not legally defined areas
Hi Josephwhat are the restrictions on moving outside your suburb into one of the hotspot areas? ..im not in a hotspot suburb but need to travel through a few . Are the police stopping cars in these hotspot areas and fining people if they dont live in the area?
-Stargirl
Hey Stargirl, the areas covered by the local government areas earlier this week and then the ten suburbs in the last couple of days are not covered by any special laws.
As Brett Sutton put it on Wednesday (before the suburbs were singled out individually):
“They’re not local government areas that are in lockdown, they’re local government areas where we’re saying, ‘There’s activity here, this should be a reminder about all of the things that we’ve warned about right through this, about only doing the things that you really have to do.'”
So while authorities definitely want you to be careful if you’re in those areas, and think about the fact that there is some community transmission there, no legal ban on movement applies.
By Joseph Dunstan
Your thoughts on testing in hotel quarantine
LOTS of comments coming in on this, here’s just a few of your takes:
Why is it even an option for testing if your in hotel quarantine. If you want back into this country who has done so well at stopping the virus you must be covid free before being allowed out. Simple
-Dan
Why did the Vic government not go ahead with the military taking over hotel quarantine? Clearly things have been a bit loose there. Surely easier to test every returned traveller than to test the citizens of 10 suburbs.
-Blitzed out in Victoria
Because Victoria’s case numbers are so much higher than other States, why not give our health system a breather and send returned travellers to other States to see out their quarantine? Just a thought!!
-Cheryl
Do we have any idea why people in quarantine refuse the test? I get that maybe some people don’t want to do it because it’s uncomfortable (not that I agree it’s a valid reason) but the number of refusals seems incredibly high for it to jus be that. Are people afraid it’ll extend their quarantine period? I just don’t understand it.
-Amy
I’ve not seen any really good accounts of why people in hotel quarantine might be refusing to be tested, Amy. But I will keep an eye out.
By Joseph Dunstan
Civil liberties vs infection control
An interesting point here from Gavin:
If someone tests positive on day 10 can the Vic govt force someone to stay in the hotel until a negative test? That could be a month in a hotel. Surely that is not legal.
-Gavin
Under Victoria’s state of emergency, the Chief Health Officer wields extraordinary power.
That includes the power to detain people or restrict movement to eliminate or reduce a serious public health risk.
NSW Health lists the NSW Ombudsman as the best point of contact for anyone concerned about their treatment in hotel quarantine, and I imagine the Victorian Ombudsman would be able to help with similar inquiries as well.
But what you’ve described is the approach New South Wales has declared it will take from this point onwards.
By Joseph Dunstan
Around 150 people had previously refused hotel quarantine tests in NSW
More on this from New South Wales reporter Sarah Thomas:
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said of the more than 11,000 travellers who had entered mandatory quarantine since March 29, “a number” had refused the 10-day test.
“We are stepping up the requirement and if they don’t have that test then they’ll have to stay in quarantine for another 10 days,” he said.
“This is one more step in our arsenal of keeping our community in New South Wales safe.”
He said at any time there wer