Police will escort all NSW residents arriving at Sydney airport from Victoria to specific quarantine hotels managed by law enforcement teams, as part of a new mandatory requirement that brings travel between the two states in line with international arrival protocol.
NSW Health staff will also assess all travellers arriving at Sydney Airport from Victoria, with those displaying Covid-19 symptoms instead transferred to a NSW Health-managed quarantine hotel in Sydney.
NSW police clarified the new rules on Friday afternoon, more than 12 hours after the public health order came into effect just after midnight, confirming it had issued a Notice to Airmen (Notam) that no regional NSW airports will be allowed to let passengers from Victoria land without a permit or exemption.
All travellers returning from Victoria will have to pay for their two week hotel quarantine.
The updated advice reiterates that while all NSW residents returning from Victoria will have to fly into Sydney airport, residents of border communities will still be able to cross the border.
However it does not specify whether residents who have permits to travel across the border for work, education and medical care, who travel beyond the specific border zone (potentially driving to Melbourne), will have to quarantine in a hotel upon returning to NSW.
The specific rules for the mandatory hotel quarantine, a policy originally announced on Wednesday before the details of the public health order were finalised, also reiterate the potential $4,000 fine for providing false information to authorities when entering NSW.
Before the mandatory hotel quarantine measure was clarified, regional airline Fly Corporate cancelled its flights from Melbourne’s Essendon Airport to Orange and Dubbo in NSW, citing confusion from authorities over the new rules, and a resulting reduction in bookings.
Operation Border Closure Commander, assistant commissioner Leanne McCusker, said:
“All travellers are assessed by NSW Health on arrival at Sydney Airport and those displaying symptoms of Covid-19 are escorted to a hotel managed by NSW Health, while the remainder are escorted to hotels managed by the NSW police force.
“These procedures are now well established and have served the community of NSW well, by dramatically reducing the community spread of Covid-19 within the state and keeping infection levels low.”
According to NSW police, more than 36,000 people have completed the 14-day hotel quarantine period in Sydney hotels since it became mandatory for returning international travellers on 29 March.
