More than a dozen international air crew members have been hit with $1000 fines after they allegedly failed to quarantine upon their arrival in Sydney.
NSW Police on Friday alleged several crew members from the flight, which arrived in Sydney from South America on 5 December, left their Mascot accommodation and frequented nearby businesses.
They subsequently fined 13 crew members $1000 each.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Friday told reporters the incident wasn’t believed to have caused COVID-19 transmission and is not connected to the emergence of a 28-strong coronavirus cluster on Sydney’s northern beaches.
It comes as international air crew arriving in NSW will from Tuesday be forced into supervised hotel quarantine arrangements until their departure.
“Since that (incident) we’ve been working with authorities on how we can manage it, working with airlines in relation to how we can manage it, it’s a very complex set of circumstances,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the situation was “delicate” because airlines wanted a uniform national policy for their air crew members. Concerns for crews’ mental health have also previously been raised.
“We actually don’t want them to say, ‘we aren’t flying into NSW’. We want them to continue flying freight and Aussies coming home,” Mr Hazzard said.
International air crew arriving in Sydney will from Tuesday be held at two police-supervised quarantine hotels until their flight back out of the country. This typically occurs within 72 hours of their arrival.
Airlines are currently in charge of ensuring air crew quarantine compliance.
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.
