NSW to trial home quarantine program for overseas arrivals

NSW to trial home quarantine program for overseas arrivals

175 fully-vaccinated people will take part in a home quarantine trial in New South Wales that the State hopes will eventually replace the hotel quarantine system once vaccination rates globally rise.

The trial, which will begin at the end of September, will see 175 people quarantine in their homes for seven days instead of two weeks in a hotel on arrival from overseas.

According to the State’s Premier Gladys Berejiklian, the trial represents a step toward Australia being able to reopen its international borders.

“The New South Wales Government has already started work on planning our 80 per cent plan - what happens at 80 per cent double dose,” Berejiklian said.

“One of the things we expect to occur at 80 per cent double is to consider our international borders, that is coming back home through Sydney Airport, but also our citizens having the opportunity to go overseas when previously they weren’t able to.

“It’s really opening the door to what home quarantine will look like for us moving forward for this returning Australians who have got double dose vaccinations.”

Under the plan, which is based on evidence collated from South Australia’s similar home quarantine trial, the NSW Government will use an app on smartphones to ensure people are at home during the seven-day period.

The app will use face detection to enable police to check in on those that should be quarantined, which is the same model currently used in South Australia.

Further, the NSW Government will partner with Qantas to enable air crew and staff to be included in the home quarantine trial.

Participants in the pilot will have had both doses of a TGA-accredited COVID-19 vaccine and will be selected by NSW Health, based on a risk assessment framework, and may include some NSW residents and some non-Australian residents in addition to some Qantas air crew.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the pilot would help secure Australia’s safe reopening plan.

“This is the next step in our plan to safely reopen, and to stay safely open,” the Prime Minister said.

“NSW has carried the lion’s share of quarantining returning Australians and will be leading the way with this trial that could set the standard for the next phases of the way we live with COVID-19.

“This could mean more families and friends being able to reunite more quickly, more business being able to be done here, and more workers for key industries being able to fill critical jobs.”

NSW today reported 1,284 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths of people with the coronavirus.

Updated at 11.44am AEST on 17 September 2021.

This update is brought to you by Employment Hero.

Click here to go to Employment Hero’s COVID-19 Resource Hub for essential resources to help employers, managers and HR specialists navigate the ongoing pandemic. 


 

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