In news that is sure to catch the eye of travel insurers, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that travellers now need to show a negative COVID-19 test before they can hop on the plane to Australia after Brisbane went into lockdown upon discovering a case of the new COVID-19 variant.
Over two million residents in Brisbane are not allowed to leave their homes except for essential business after a worker at a quarantine hotel tested positive for the new variant of COVID-19, which was first discovered in the UK. It was unknown if the worker was infected by someone who arrived from the UK, but all travellers must now show a negative test to visit Australia.
“A negative test is not foolproof, but a positive test – they’re not coming,” said Australian Department of Health chief medical officer Paul Kelly, as reported by Reuters.
Australia has had around 28,500 cases of COVID-19 and 900 deaths, which is fewer than most other countries of its population size, partly because of stricter border controls amid the pandemic. Since March, Australia has closed its borders to all non-citizens and permanent residents with only limited exceptions.
Morrison justified the lockdown in Brisbane, saying: “I know they will be some in Brisbane today asking ‘why is this necessary? There is only one case’. Well, this isn’t any ordinary case. This is a very special case and one that requires us to treat things quite differently.”
Jeannette Young, Queensland’s chief health officer, added: “We can’t put it back in the box. We’ve got to act before we get the cases.”
