Peter Gutwein,Premier
The Tasmanian Government's number one priority is to keep Tasmanians safe and secure, and pleasingly out of the 1888 laboratory tests undertaken yesterday, all results have again returned negative.
Work has continued on contact tracing associated with the 31-year-old man who tested positive after being in hotel quarantine in Launceston and is now back in New South Wales. It has been confirmed that the man did in fact have the Delta strain of the virus, meaning every precaution we are taking here in Tasmania is important given the highly contagious nature of this variant.
All 189 contacts of the man have been contacted and 139 of these people are in quarantine and are being tested, with the remaining 50 having been assessed as low risk and not required to quarantine.
Wastewater testing results, undertaken as part of our ongoing and active surveillance for COVID-19, have all returned negative results so far, including those for Launceston with the Newnham site to be retested due to technical issues.
We have border restrictions in place with all of Victoria, all of New South Wales and 11 local government areas in Queensland, in addition to high risk premises in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Cairns. We will continue to monitor the situation in these states and adjust our border settings if necessary. Our thoughts continue to be with the people of New South Wales where the situation continues to escalate.
In terms of the work we have done to review the circumstances of this case, I want to reiterate that our process and procedures at the border worked well. They picked up the man without an endorsed G2G pass and he was immediately sent into hotel quarantine.
I want to make it very clear, that in the event that a person arrives who is unauthorised to do so, and a return flight is available within a reasonable time, the person will be isolated at the airport until they can be returned to their place of origin.The exception being that if you are from a high risk level 1 area you will be placed directly in hotel quarantine as was the case with this man.
What will be changed immediately is to ensure that any person from a high –risk area Level 1 area or premises in government designated hotel quarantine who wishes to leave the State before the end of their 14 day quarantine will need to apply to the Deputy State Controller and will only be approved for release from quarantine early in order to leave the state if they have received at least one negative COVID-19 test result.
If approved to leave the state, the Deputy State Controller may impose requirements on the traveller in connection with their departure, including requiring transportation by government transport to the airport or, in the case of the Spirit of Tasmania passengers, to the compound to collect their vehicle so they can board the vessel.
Despite today's encouraging news, the Delta variant is a whole new ball game that we are taking very seriously and Tasmanians need to remain vigilant.
Importantly, especially those in the north of the State, get a test if you are unwell – no matter how mild the symptoms are. Please continue to check in to venues, practise good hand hygiene, cover your coughs and sneezes and have your COVID kit at home ready.
Importantly, don't wait – vaccinate.
