Chinanews.com, January 6th. According to a report from Australia.com, in recent days, after the highly contagious mutant new coronavirus discovered in the UK invaded Australia, all walks of life in Australia have begun to urgently call for mandatory nucleic acid testing for travelers returning to the country. .
Australian states call for greater control: prohibit entry of British flights and impose compulsory testing on incoming passengers
According to the "Daily Mail" report on the 5th, up to now, NSW, Victoria and South Australia have all found carriers of the mutant new coronavirus among their overseas travelers returning home.
Western Australia also confirmed a few days ago that three inbound passengers in quarantine were infected with a more contagious mutant virus.
On November 19, 2020 local time, in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, citizens walked on empty streets.
In response, Western Australia Governor McGowan took the lead in calling for compulsory nucleic acid testing for returning passengers.
He said: "I think this will be a good security mechanism for passengers from many countries around the world to be tested before boarding and confirm that their test results are negative."
In addition, Victoria also requires crew members not only to undergo nucleic acid testing, but also to be isolated.
Because of the 1,096 crew members who have arrived in Victoria in the past two weeks, 8 crew members have tested positive, which is twice the number of confirmed arrivals.
Victoria Police Minister Neville said that other states should follow their example by testing and quarantining the crew because they are at high risk of infection.
According to the strict new regulations implemented by Victoria on December 23, 2020, crew members are required to undergo nucleic acid testing within 90 minutes after arriving at the Victorian quarantine hotel.
Neville also suggested that due to this "worrying" mutant virus, Australia should consider closing airports and banning flights from the United Kingdom.
Omar Khorshid, chairman of the Australian Medical Association, also expressed concern about recent cases in the country of quarantining travelers from hotels to the community.
He said: "We have seen that Australia's isolation system is not foolproof. Australia is facing greater danger for this highly contagious mutant virus." For this reason, Colehead supports this proposal. That is, all passengers should undergo a nucleic acid test and provide a negative result before boarding an airplane and entering Australia.
Data map: Australian Prime Minister Morrison.
Prime Minister Morrison opposes mandatory testing and blockade of flights, saying it is out of date
According to reports, Australian Prime Minister Morrison stated that compulsory nucleic acid testing on incoming passengers is not a solution to the problem.
Because this may give people a false confidence that "all employees are healthy" when the plane arrives in Australia.
Morrison said: "Most airlines do this, and we do the same for passengers returning to Australia on government chartered flights. But we should emphasize that this will not reduce the risk of infection. In some cases, this may be the case. It will be aggravated because people may not have symptoms...or the symptoms have not been manifested during the journey, which may make travelers feel complacent.” (Wei Wei compilation)