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A bubble of travel through Tasmania between Australia and New Zealand will become a reality within two weeks after the two nations agreed that New Zealanders could travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory starting October 16, for the first time since the coronavirus restrictions were imposed in March.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern agreed on the plan on Friday.
Travelers from New Zealand must not have been to a designated Covid-19 hotspot in the previous 14 days, where an hotspot is defined as a three-day rolling average of three cases per day.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters on Friday that starting October 16, the bubble will release an additional 325 weekly quarantined hotel beds in Sydney.
NSW and NT were the only two jurisdictions to accept the bubble offer at the last national cabinet meeting, and McCormack said South Australia was probably the “next taxi out of range” to accept it. He said that if Queensland accepted the plan, it would release another 250 quarantined places a week.
Australians will not be allowed to travel to New Zealand for now, and McCormack said the decision was “largely in Prime Minister Ardern’s court at this time.”
McCormack said that people arriving in New Zealand, from other Pacific Island nations that are allowed to enter New Zealand, could come to Australia and work picking fruit or shearing sheep, once they have completed the required 14 days in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk announced changes to Covid-19 restrictions, including allowing Queenslanders to stand at a bar and drink starting at 4 p.m. Outdoor events will increase from 500 to 1,000 people, and the open-air stadiums will be able to go from 50% to 75% of their capacity.
Starting November 1, all New South Wales residents or Queenslanders returning from New South Wales will be able to enter Queensland with a border pass without having to be quarantined for two weeks. Reopening is subject to NSW logging 28 days without community broadcast.
On Friday, NSW reported its seventh consecutive day with no locally acquired Covid-19 cases. The four new reported cases were travelers returned from hotel quarantine.
Tasmanian Prime Minister Peter Gutwein also announced that his state would reopen its borders to ACT, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory from October 26. It may also open to New South Wales depending on community broadcast over the next several weeks.
Victoria was excluded from the Queensland and Tasmania ads, as the state records a steady decline in active cases.
Victoria’s Attorney General Jill Hennessy announced a “restart” of the hotel quarantine program on Friday, after the government was questioned after it was revealed that nine Covid-positive resident “health hotel” employees tested positive. by the virus between July and August.
On Wednesday night, Spotless contractors working at the Novotel in South Wharf were removed mid-shift and replaced by Victorian police and government personnel.
Hennessy said this change was part of the program restart, which meant isolating Victorian residents who cannot isolate at home, frontline workers and returning commuters, all in one program.
After evidence heard in the hotel’s quarantine investigation that no minister was being regularly updated on the hotel’s quarantine, Hennessy said it is receiving daily reports on the program’s operations, and that there are clear processes for staff to or residents report problems.
“We are working very, very hard to make sure that we have a stable, secure and very, very focused workforce on the task at hand, and that it keeps Victorians safe as well as our workforce safe.” she said.
“We feel very comfortable and confident with the changes we have made.”
Health Director Professor Brett Sutton said genomic data from six of the nine hotel quarantined cases since July, as well as contact tracing conducted, indicated that the cases were not detected while working in hotel quarantine.
“The cases that occurred in these settings were absolutely a reflection of the very substantial community transmission in Melbourne at the time, and indeed janitorial services are a vulnerable cohort to infection,” he said.
“We saw several cleaners that developed infections during that period.”
Sutton, however, confirmed that two of the workers had been working at the hotel while they were infected but were not showing any symptoms.
There are currently 55 people in quarantine, including a family of eight related to an outbreak at a butcher shop in Chadstone.
Victoria reported seven new cases of Covid-19 overnight, with two additional deaths: a man and an 80-year-old woman.
Melbourne’s 14-day moving average dropped to 12.8, and the number of mystery cases dropped to 14 between Sept. 16 and Sept. 29.
There are 261 active cases in Victoria, including 40 active cases among healthcare workers and 111 in elderly care. There are 38 Victorians in the hospital, four of whom are in intensive care and three on ventilators.
12,550 tests were performed the day before.
Weekend temperatures in Melbourne are expected to hit 28 degrees, and Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews said people should not delay the test due to good weather.
The Australian Capital Territory also announced from October 9 that meetings will be increased to 200 people, with venues ranging from 101 to 200 square meters with capacity for 50 people.
Capacity at indoor seating venues will be increased by up to 50%, up to 1,000 people, and cinemas can increase capacity up to 200 people.
