NSW quarantine under the spotlight as ‘Freedom Day’ announced
Just as NSW declared ‘freedom day’, with many COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, the state quarantine system came under further the spotlight.
An error that saw two returning overseas travellers avoid quarantine in Sydney and continue onto travel to Melbourne, brought up further questions about quarantine security.
This mistake in letting the travellers through was made by a young, NSW police officer on his second shift.
The officer involved is "obviously remorseful" said NSW Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy and the police have now reviewed and "tightened up the whole process.
"We just need to move forward and ensure that he comes to work with the confidence of a young police officer because mistakes are often made," he told radio 2GB on Monday.
Loy said the slip had to be kept in perspective and the NSW hotel quarantine system had been widely recognised as best practice in Australia.
"At the end of the day we're looking at the 100,000 people who have been through this process and people need to remember these are Australian people coming back," he said.
New rules in place will see arrivals returning with exemptions immediately separated to make certain they are processed properly.
It is believed that the dual nationals involved in the slip up did not intentionally try to mislead authorities.
"Not at all it's purely a miscommunication," he said.
Irit Jackson, 7th December 2020
