Page 282 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 9 February 2021
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vomiting and loss of appetite. Symptoms can develop between two to 14 days after you are exposed to the virus. Most commonly, symptoms develop five or six days after exposure.
Continued high rates of testing are essential to maintain rigorous surveillance, closely monitor the situation as restrictions are eased and act quickly if a case is detected or new cases emerge in other jurisdictions.
On 8 January 2021 National Cabinet agreed to implement additional measures to strengthen end-to-end protection of Australians from COVID-19, including new variants. Temporary passenger caps in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia halved the number of returning Australians into those jurisdictions.
Last week National Cabinet agreed to return the caps to their previous levels from 15 February. In the meantime, the commonwealth announced that it would be supporting additional government-facilitated flights, and the ACT is pleased to be playing a role in getting Australians home through this program. We are taking a very cautious approach to how we manage international travellers, given the heightened risk of new variants of the virus at this time. Now more than ever, we need to ensure that our hotel quarantine and infection control procedures are of the highest standard.
In response to this heightened risk, ACT Health is implementing the safeguarding Canberrans surveillance program, SCan, as part of a national approach to screening workers involved in the repatriation of Australians from overseas. Following a successful trial in November 2020, SCan now includes daily saliva testing and weekly deep nasal or throat swabs, in addition to syndromic surveillance and detailed public health advice for participants. Government and hotel quarantine employees are required to provide information regarding second employment and maintain a list of their household and frequent close contacts for risk mitigation.
We recognise the need to ensure that our hotel quarantine and infection control measures are of the highest standard. Through SCan, ACT Health can minimise the risk of hotel quarantine to the Canberra community. Our hotel quarantine workers are at the front line and face an increased level of risk, particularly when managing an international flight arrival. I can assure members that ACT Health is constantly reviewing processes and learning from other jurisdictions to best protect our community. We have strengthened our hotel quarantine system in accordance with national best practice guidelines and in view of learnings from other jurisdictions and the advice of the AHPPC, and we will continue to prioritise safety in relation to hotel quarantine.
All returning international travellers on government-facilitated flights quarantining in the ACT are routinely tested for COVID-19 twice during their stay and again if they become symptomatic. National Cabinet has agreed that returning Australians and other travellers to Australia must return a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to departure. Exemptions will only be applied in extenuating circumstances, such as for seasonal workers from countries where there is limited access to testing.
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