Canberra receives fourth repatriation flight

Canberran health authorities are on high alert as the capital receives a fourth repatriation flight of Australian passengers this afternoon.

ACT Health Minister, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the passengers from the Indian city of Chennai would undergo a 14-day hotel quarantine stay at the Pacific Suites Hotel.

She said hotel staff would undergo daily saliva testing and be kitted out in full PPE in hotel ” red zones” where travellers are residing.

“I have had conversations with Dr Kerryn Coleman about what we would do if we saw a positive case,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“It really depends on the circumstances of the case and we have seen different responses around the country.

“If contact tracing is going to be likely to be undertaken very quickly and those immediate contacts are going to be able to put into quarantine very quickly without us needing to undertake any further community wide measures then that is what we would do.

“If it looked like that person had been infectious for a few days in the community and there were multiple potential transmission sites that might be when you consider that really short, sharp lockdown in order to undertake all of that contact tracing.”

It’s understood that around 180 Australians were on the flight from India to Canberra. 

It is the first of two government-chartered flights the ACT has accepted so far this year, with another due next month.