Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet
The Chief Health Officer has declared Greater Metropolitan Sydney, the Local Government Areas of Central Coast Council and City of Blue Mountains, and the Illawarra Region of New South Wales as COVID-19 Hotspots for the purposes of travel to the Northern Territory from 3pm on 20 December 2020.
This follows on from an outbreak that has occurred in the Northern Beaches of Sydney and has grown to include 64 positive COVID-19 cases.
Anyone travelling to the Northern Territory who has been in a COVID-19 Hotspot in the 14 days prior to their arrival must undertake 14 days of mandatory, supervised quarantine at the Alice Springs or Howard Springs quarantine facilities at a cost of $2,500 per person.
Those people on a flight travelling from Sydney and due to land in the Northern Territory at 3.20pm today will have the option to return home or enter mandatory supervised quarantine at no cost.
If you are intending to travel to the Northern Territory from a COVID-19 hotspot you are advised to rethink your plans. If you are a Territorian intending to travel to a hotspot you are advised to rethink your plans.
Anyone who has arrived in the Northern Territory on, or after 11 December 2020 and has been to a declared hotspot in NSW needs to have a COVID-19 test immediately and self-quarantine whilst awaiting the results.
Please contact the COVID-19 hotline 1800 008 002 and identify yourself as a person who has been in an area that has been declared a hotspot since you arrived in the NT.
The Chief Health Officer will continue to review and assess the COVID-19 situation in NSW and take into account COVID-19 monitoring and data collection, the extent of community transmission and risks to the NT community.
The risk of COVID-19 in our communities cannot be eliminated which is why it is important for everyone to follow all health directions.
· If you have COVID-19 symptoms, do not travel. Make sure you get tested and stay at home.
· Maintain a physical distance of 1.5 metres at all times.
· Wash your hands with soap and water and use hand sanitiser regularly.
· Cough and sneeze into your elbow or a tissue. Put your tissue in the bin straight away.
· Do not go to work if you feel sick.
· If you have symptoms, stay away from others and call a doctor or the NT COVID-19 Hotline on 1800 008 002.
To stay up to date with the latest information visit www.coronavirus.nt.gov.au
Quotes attributable to Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie
"This is about protecting the health and safety of Territorians. The decisions we make in the coming days will be critical."
"These are not easy decisions to make but from the learnings we have had, we know that we need to go hard and wide early and we will continue to declare hotspots as required."
"It was always going to be a different Christmas. The outbreak in NSW is linked to one cluster but we will continue to review the situation, monitor the data and assess the consequences over the replication cycle."
"This is a strong reminder to us all, that we must continue to apply the safety principals and regularly wash our hands and practise physical distancing. These may seem like simple things but they essential to keeping us safe."
"We have a proven track record of doing the right thing in the Territory. I ask everyone to have a safe COVID Christmas.''
