The Northern Territory has revoked its hotspot declarations for most of the Greater Sydney region, effective immediately, as it monitors the city’s coronavirus cluster.
NT acting chief minister Nicole Manison on Thursday afternoon said health authorities were satisfied the government could safely revoke declarations for “the large majority” of local government areas that had been deemed hotspots.
However, parts of the Northern Beaches, the epicentre of the NSW outbreak, remain as hotspots.
A list of active hotspot suburbs in the Northern Beaches area can be found on the NT government’s coronavirus website.
“But please know if anything changes, we will not hesitate to act quickly if we have to in the coming days,” Ms Manison told reporters in Darwin.
It came after NSW announced nine new coronavirus cases on Thursday from a record 60,000-plus tests.
Seven of the nine cases were linked to the Avalon Northern Beaches cluster, which has now swelled to 104 infections, while the sources of the other two infections are under investigation.
Sydneysiders currently quarantining at the Howard Springs and Alice Springs centres would also be released on Thursday afternoon, Ms Manison revealed.
“We are going to work to release them as quickly as possible from the facility so they can go about their Christmas plans and again we thank them for their patience through this process.”
‘Weak positive’ in SA
Meanwhile, in South Australia, two new COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday, including a young man who returned a “weak positive” result after travelling into the state from NSW.
Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the man in his 20s was aboard a flight from Darwin to Sydney on 18 December that carried an infectious person.
But she said the man was not seated near the person and the positive result was likely due to an old non-infectious case.
“It’s my understanding it is likely to be an old infection, therefore, nobody in South Australia is at any risk,” Prof Spurrier said.
Prof Spurrier said the health department was working to confirm further details and that she was awaiting verification of his result.
The man travelled from Sydney to Wodonga, spending some time in rural Victoria, and crossed into SA at the Yorke Peninsula on Monday. He is in quarantine along with five close contacts as a precaution.
Prof Spurrier said the man was in Victoria at the height of their outbreak but never showed symptoms.
The second case is a man in his 70s who is in a medi-hotel after returning to SA from Doha on 18 December.
Two new cases in Queensland
In Queensland, a man in his 40s who visited Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and a female superyacht crew member in her 20s in Cairns tested positive for the virus.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said on Thursday the male traveller tested negative after returning from Sydney last Friday, but later became unwell and tested positive on Wednesday night.
The man has self-isolated at this home in the state’s south-east since he returned and has had no contact with the community.
Police are also investigating those aboard the superyacht in Cairns, which arrived in Queensland on Monday. The female crew member was taken to hospital after testing positive for the virus.
Ms D’Ath said the 14 guests and six crew members aboard the yacht have not been sharing information about their movements for contact tracing.
‘We are very disappointed that this superyacht is not cooperating, and providing factual correct information to the Queensland Police Service,” she said.
The state now has gone 100 days without community spread, with the two new cases found from 23,609 tests conducted in the last 48 hours.
But those two cases and sewage tests at Wynnum, Bargara and Bundaberg indicate there are more positive cases in the state.
“We cannot afford to get complacent, because with the positive sewage (test) that we have, and the fact that we have this positive case from the Northern Beaches,” Ms D’Ath said on Thursday.
No hugs for NSW friends in Victoria
And in Victoria, two international airline crew tested positive for the virus this week after touching down in Melbourne, the state’s COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar has revealed.
It comes as new laws make it mandatory for airline crews and technicians from international carriers transiting through Melbourne to enter the state’s rebooted hotel quarantine system.
Under a previous exemption, incoming flight staff from overseas could quarantine at home or at an airline-approved hotel until their departure. That was no longer permitted from midday on Wednesday – with similar laws also being introduced in Queensland and NSW.
Mr Weimar said about 100 international air crew members were now based at a quarantine hotel near Melbourne airport.
Despite the state clocking up its 55th straight day with no locally-acquired cases, Mr Weimar advised Victorians to forgo hugging and kissing family and friends this Christmas – especially if they have been in NSW over the past 10 days amid Sydney’s outbreak.
“Keep your distance and manage those social distancing measures,” he said.
With AAP.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction’s restrictions on gathering limits. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus
Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania
