Sydney Airport has revealed a step-by-step guide to its coronavirus screening process for flights from Victoria – from when a plane first lands to how passengers get out of the airport.
The detail comes after health experts slammed the process, with former Australian Medical Association head Dr Kerryn Phelps suggesting some people were coming off planes from Victoria without adequate screening.
Flights continue to operate daily between the two cities, and calls to enforce mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers are growing louder.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sydney Airport health commander Sarah Nielsen, who is a nurse, defended the process as robust and thorough and explained every part of the process, which can take more than an hour.
Ms Nielsen said health screeners were in position at the gate, wearing full PPE before a flight had even landed.
Once everyone is ready, a call is made to the airport and airline staff to instruct them to pull the plane up to the gate and ensure every passenger is wearing a mask before they disembark.
As passengers filter out, a nurse checks their temperature and asks if they have had any coronavirus symptoms.
Once this stage is cleared, the passenger is asked for their personal details: name, birthday, address in Victoria and where they intend to stay in NSW.
“When we get all that information, we crosscheck that against our formal piece of evidence, so it might be a New South Wales driver’s licence,” Ms Nielsen said.
“If they don’t have a formal piece of identification, we would then need to confirm this with the police with their assistance.”
Anyone whose identification cannot be confirmed is not let through until authorities can be sure what they are claiming is true.
If a passenger is immediately catching another flight from Sydney, they are asked for their connecting flight details and, in the event they are staying in a hotel for a few days, booking details.
Passengers planning to remain in Sydney have their permit checked to ensure they have applied for the correct one and it is valid.
“Anyone that comes through on a critical workers permit, it is checked,” Ms Nielsen said. “We do thoroughly check that they are indeed a critical worker and that the service couldn’t be provided by someone already in New South Wales.
“If there are any concerns, we do have an escalation pathway where we can escalate to our disaster manager and also he can then forward that onto the Ministry of Health.”
Anyone who enters New South Wales on a critical worker permit but does not meet the criteria will be swabbed at the airport by a nurse and sent to a hotel to quarantine while they await results.
If there are major concerns about a person’s right to be in NSW, Ms Nielsen will join a teleconference with a disaster manager and a representative from the Ministry of Health to help confirm details.
At the final stage, senior health staff check a passenger’s information a final time before issuing a public health order.
“(The order is) some information about hand hygiene, how to wear a mask and we will give them information about travelling home, making sure they understand they cannot catch public transport home,” Ms Nielsen said.
Any data collected is kept and sent to the appropriate public health unit.
Ms Nielsen said the screening process took about 20 minutes per person – depending on the number of passengers and provided everything was in order.
Travellers can be held for more than an hour waiting to get through. If a traveller needs to go to the bathroom during the process, police or a health walker will often escort them.
When passengers leave the terminal, there are strict rules for getting in a taxi or Uber.
Only three people can travel at a time, and they must sit in the back seat, wearing a mask with the windows down.
Passengers must also handle their own luggage.
The NSW-Victoria border closed on July 8. Residents from Victoria are now required to have an exemption to cross the border into NSW and then must self-isolate for 14 days.
The same goes for returning NSW residents, but health experts fear authorities are putting too much trust in people to self-isolate.
Dr Phelps said while residents may think the border between the two states had been shut, “it’s not closed at all”.
NSW Labor is also calling for stricter processes and wants those coming from Victoria to face mandatory hotel quarantine.
“NSW residents entering from Victoria are now as great a risk as those returning from overseas,” Opposition health spokesman Minister Ryan Park said.
The MP said hotel quarantining for those returning from overseas was “the most effective thing” the state had done to fight the virus.
“Transmission from Victoria could kick off a second wave of this virus in NSW,” he said.
“It is the biggest threat we face to both lives and jobs. We can’t afford another Ruby Princess catastrophe that sees a few cases turn into a major outbreak.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMijQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS90cmF2ZWwvdHJhdmVsLXVwZGF0ZXMvZXhhY3RseS13aGF0LWhhcHBlbnMtYXQtc3lkbmV5LWFpcnBvcnQtZHVyaW5nLWNvdmlkL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZDNiYzRmMDNjZDVkZGUwMzRjNmZiZGJiZjAwY2M3ODTSAY0BaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvdHJhdmVsL3RyYXZlbC11cGRhdGVzL2V4YWN0bHktd2hhdC1oYXBwZW5zLWF0LXN5ZG5leS1haXJwb3J0LWR1cmluZy1jb3ZpZC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2QzYmM0ZjAzY2Q1ZGRlMDM0YzZmYmRiYmYwMGNjNzg0?oc=5
2020-08-04 05:25:34Z
CBMijQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS90cmF2ZWwvdHJhdmVsLXVwZGF0ZXMvZXhhY3RseS13aGF0LWhhcHBlbnMtYXQtc3lkbmV5LWFpcnBvcnQtZHVyaW5nLWNvdmlkL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvZDNiYzRmMDNjZDVkZGUwMzRjNmZiZGJiZjAwY2M3ODTSAY0BaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvdHJhdmVsL3RyYXZlbC11cGRhdGVzL2V4YWN0bHktd2hhdC1oYXBwZW5zLWF0LXN5ZG5leS1haXJwb3J0LWR1cmluZy1jb3ZpZC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5L2QzYmM0ZjAzY2Q1ZGRlMDM0YzZmYmRiYmYwMGNjNzg0
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