Australians returning from overseas will soon be forced to bunker down in hotels for their mandatory 14-day self-isolation period, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.
Speaking at Parliament House this afternoon, the Prime Minister said the dramatic measure is part of the Government’s latest tranche of measures to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) within our borders.
From midnight on Saturday, anyone who arrives in Australia will be required to shack up in a hotel or other suitable accommodation, which will be provided by the state and territory governments.
Morrison said recent arrivals must quarantine where they disembark. So, if you’re landing in Brisbane but need to get to Perth, you’re just gonna have to wait it out in Queensland before heading home.
In an alarming development, Morrison said that entire quarantine situation will be monitored by the Australian Defence Force (ADF), who will run compliance checks to ensure recent arrivals aren’t laughing it up at the local Westfield.
The measure “enables us to deal with the increasing pressure we have of Australians coming home,” Morrison said.
According to the the Health Department, the majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Australia are understood to be the result of overseas infection, meaning extra focus is being placed on anyone rushing home.
Until now, all returning Australians had been asked to self-isolate at home for fourteen days, but authorities nationwide have started to ramp up their compliance checks to make sure that mandatory quarantining was actually taking place.
Looks like being shacked up in a hotel — and the ADF putting their “boots on the ground,” as Morrison said — will make skipping out on that quarantine a lil’ more difficult.
