Acting Chief Health Officer Dr Vanessa Johnston said the quarantine order was a precautionary measure. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Just days after the ACT Chief Health Officer lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions on the Cumberland LGA in Sydney, the ACT Government has advised travellers from Western Australia to quarantine on arrival in the ACT after a positive COVID-19 test was returned by a hotel quarantine worker in Perth.
The advice means anyone who has been to the Perth metropolitan area or the Peel and South-West regions of Western Australia since 25 January must self-quarantine and get tested for COVID-19.
ACT Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Vanessa Johnston said that this is a precautionary measure and at this stage the period of quarantine is consistent with the five-day lockdown which has been enacted in Western Australia.
“In line with the WA Government’s own lockdown we are saying that anyone who has been to one of these regions since 25 January should quarantine until 9:00 pm on Friday 5 February, even after they have received their test results,” Dr Johnston said.
This advice also applies to the passengers from a Qantas flight that landed in Canberra last night, which included a number of Federal MPs coming to Canberra for the first sitting week of 2021 which starts tomorrow (2 February).
House Speaker Tony Smith has advised MPs coming from lockdown areas in WA not to attend Parliament tomorrow.
The WA lockdown affects Perth metropolitan area, the Peel and South-West regions of Western Australia since 25 January. Image: WA Government.
ACT Health had already requested that those passengers go directly to their accommodation and to minimise their interactions with other people.
They should now seek testing for COVID-19 and then return to self-quarantine until 9:00 pm on Friday.
“We are monitoring the situation closely in Western Australia and will be making further decisions tomorrow as additional information is received from WA authorities,” Dr Johnston said.
“We are also asking that non-ACT residents who are in Western Australia to not travel to the ACT at this time.”
The WA lockdown has been introduced due to the detection of a positive COVID-19 case in a hotel quarantine worker in that state.
Loading ...
