*All* International Arrivals Into NSW and Victoria Must Immediately Isolate For 72 Hours

international arrivals now have new isolation measures, NSW, Victoria

All international arrivals in NSW and Victoria must isolate for 72 hours regardless of what country they’ve come from, as two people travelling from South Africa to Sydney test positive for COVID-19.

Both the Victorian Department of Health and NSW Health have announced new isolation measures for *all* overseas travellers, not just arrivals from South Africa, as concerns over the the new Omicron variant grows.

The new measures, which went into effect midnight on Saturday, are as follows:

All international arrivals in NSW and Victoria who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Malawi, and the Seychelles in the 14 days before coming to Australia must isolate in hotel quarantine for 14 days, regardless of if they are vaccinated.

People who are already in NSW or Victoria, who have also spent time in any of the nine African countries of concern 14 days before their arrival, must also get tested and isolate immediately for 14 days. If you are in NSW, call NSW Health to alert them of the matter.

For vaccinated travellers arriving in NSW and Victoria from literally any other country than Australia, you must go straight home/wherever you are staying and isolate *immediately* for 72 hours and wait for further health advice. For those that aren’t vaccinated, it’s hotel quarantine, which is what the current rules are anyway.

The new measures were announced on Saturday night after two people arriving in Sydney on a flight with nine travellers from South Africa tested positive for the virus.

Genomic testing is now underway to see if the two passengers have the Omicron variant, and they have been placed in Special Health Accomodation pending test results. The rest of the passengers are being treated as close contacts.

So far, there are no confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in Australia.

Earlier, NSW Health Minister Greg Hunt announced a two-week ban on non-citizens entering the state from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique, and Australian citizens who arrive from these countries must be supervised during their 14 day quarantine.

The federal government also announced that all flights from the nine affected countries would be suspended for two weeks.

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