Tuesday, June 01, 2021

First India repatriation flight to WA arrives in Perth since coronavirus travel ban lifted

A planeload of more than 130 people has touched down in Perth from India, becoming the first to arrive in WA since the Australian government lifted a travel ban between the two countries.

The ban was introduced as India grappled with an outbreak of a highly transmissible strain of COVID-19, leading to mass sickness and deaths.

The repatriation flight is the first to come to Western Australia, but others have already landed in the Northern Territory with travellers sent to quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.

The arrivals to WA will need to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine before they can enter the community.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said the passengers were being taken to the Westin Hotel in Perth's CBD.

"The Westin Hotel is prepared for it, and there has been appropriate security and other transport arrangements with the right health measures put around the passengers arriving from India," he said.

The WA government has been under increasing pressure over its hotel quarantine system, following revelations of yet another case of transmission at the Pan Pacific Perth hotel.

Genomic testing yesterday confirmed a man caught the virus from another guest in a nearby room.

Other travellers staying on the same floor had already been released into the community after the transmission was confirmed, but the state government said they had all tested negative and were being monitored for symptoms.

WA recorded no new cases of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine overnight.

02/06/21 ABC.net

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