Caps on Quarantine Arrivals in New South Wales

At the request of the NSW Government, overseas quarantine arrivals in Sydney will be capped at 450 passengers a day under new Commonwealth Government limits being introduced from midnight tonight.

A maximum of 50 people per incoming flight and the 450 overall daily limit are key measures to ensure hotel quarantining continues to be effective in limiting the spread of COVID-19 within NSW and Australia.

Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott said NSW has invested significant taxpayers’ resources in delivering a system which has worked to safeguard NSW residents but it is critical that it’s not stretched to breaking point.

“NSW Police, NSW Health and the Australian Defence Force have worked together to ensure effective hotel quarantining and the Commonwealth Government has heard the NSW message that we need to ensure the system is sustainable,” Minister Elliott said.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that with the current challenges in Victoria and the Queensland Government now charging for hotel quarantine, it appears that some returning travelers have changed their plans and decided to head to NSW for their 2 week quarantine.

“The Commonwealth Government’s intervention now will hopefully ensure that the quarantine model operating in NSW will continue to work for the benefit of NSW residents and returning passengers.

“It is crucial that the volume of returning passengers not overrun the capacity of NSW Health to meet and assess every international passenger at Sydney Airport and not exhaust Health, Police and ADF resources to manage our quarantine hotels.”

NSW Health has committed significant resources to managing the health aspects of hotel quarantine since its inception on 29 March 2020.

This now includes Day 2 and Day 10 swabbing of all people in hotel quarantine as well as their day to day health needs.

Screening is also operating on domestic flights and interstate trains originating in Melbourne.