South Australia's Premier is urging change to repatriation arrangements for overseas citizens, and wants all returning travellers to undergo mandatory coronavirus tests before boarding flights.
Key points:
- Two people have caught coronavirus while in hotel quarantine in Adelaide
- International flights into the city have been suspended
- The Premier wants people tested and cleared for coronavirus before boarding international flights
However, such a change would have to be approved by National Cabinet, Steven Marshall said.
The proposal was part of an eight-point plan outlined by Mr Marshall today, in response to a coronavirus cluster linked to one of Adelaide's medi-hotels housing returned travellers.
"We will ask National Cabinet to consider testing all returning Australian citizens prior to their flight with a view that they must have negative test results before boarding," Mr Marshall said this morning.
It was revealed yesterday that two people previously thought to have acquired COVID-19 overseas caught the virus while in quarantine at the Peppers Waymouth Hotel.
Mr Marshall said a change in the system so that overseas arrivals were tested before getting on flights would have to happen nationally, rather than just for flights coming into Adelaide, since flights were often rerouted.
South Australia has cancelled all incoming flights until at least November 30 to sort out problems in the state's medi-hotel system and allow space for locals associated with the Parafield cluster to quarantine.
Mr Marshall said he had written to the Commonwealth to ask that the pause be extended.
About 600 people had been arriving in Adelaide each week, with up to 1,200 in quarantine in CBD hotels.
"We are still committed to the repatriation of Australian citizens who are stranded overseas. We want to play our part," Mr Marshall said.
"But we're not going to rush into this. We're going to gradually step back into receiving those people when we receive that advice from Health that it is safe to do so."
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas also wants South Australia's intake of repatriated Australians suspended.
"We've got to put a hold on the medi-hotel program," he said.
"The Premier has done that to the end of the week; by next week it's due to recommence.
"I think it would be a borderline irrational thing to do when we haven't even figured out what went wrong."
SA Labor is also pushing for an independent review into how the outbreak started.
The federal Department of Health and Health Minister Greg Hunt have been contacted for comment.
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2020-11-25 03:24:00Z
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