Page39 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 2 December 2020
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ensuring that our systems are adept to manage the flow of persons through quarantine; and providing further support for families and parents, including entertainment options.
We recognise that quarantine, particularly hotel quarantine, can be a challenging experience for people. Our public health team is focused on seeking to improve the experience by reducing stresses and anxieties where possible. Supporting mental health and wellbeing is a particular focus of the ACT’s approach, with a dedicated team offering a range of supports to guests, including specific support for parents.
We expect quarantine to remain a requirement for returning international travellers for some time to come, except where the Australian government can advise that the risk is sufficiently low, such as with the arrangements now in place allowing travellers arriving from New Zealand to enter quarantine-free.
Madam Speaker, the Australian government has sought the assistance of states and territories to return thousands of vulnerable Australians that are waiting to return home. The ACT, along with all other jurisdictions, agreed at National Cabinet to prioritise Australians returning home and to work towards enabling more Australians who wish to return home to do so.
Between 13 November and Christmas 2020, the Australian government expects to bring an additional 27,000 Australians home, with further places becoming available once Melbourne Airport reopens to international arrivals. The ACT government has undertaken to assist, where we have capacity in our quarantine system, to facilitate the safe arrival and quarantine of returning Australian citizens and permanent residents.
The ACT received a government-facilitated flight on 26 November 2020, and travellers are being supported through their quarantine by ACT Health Directorate staff, with compliance support from ACT Policing and the Australian Defence Force. Further flights will continue to be received during 2021 if capacity allows.
We continue to work with the commonwealth government around the timing of these flights, where they come from and specific numbers of passengers who will arrive in Canberra. The ACT had already successfully received two repatriation flights since Australia closed its international borders. Since these flights, the ACT government has worked collaboratively with the commonwealth to review the ACT’s hotel quarantine systems and procedures and implement measures to further strengthen our quarantine system and processes, in accordance with best practice guidelines identified in the review and lessons from other jurisdictions.
We are taking every precaution to minimise the risk to the community of these flights, including mandatory testing for workers at Canberra’s quarantine hotels, as recommended by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee. All travellers quarantining in the ACT are tested for COVID-19 twice during their stay. They receive a phone call, including a symptom check, from an ACT Health staff member every day of their quarantine, and any traveller who may become symptomatic is tested for COVID-19.
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