The quarantine breach was only discovered as the travellers book a car at Melbourne airport. Photo / Unsplash, Nicholas Santoian
The quarantine breach was only discovered as the travellers book a car at Melbourne airport. Photo / Unsplash, Nicholas Santoian
The official line from NSW is that two German travellers who bypassed hotel quarantine in Sydney and boarded a flight to Melbourne on Saturday were mistakenly "exempt". But that isn't the full story.
There's a part of the story NSW Police haven't revealed yet, a lingering question around what could have been the most serious breach of quarantine since the virus escaped a Melbourne hotel and sparked Victoria's second wave.
What convinced a NSW Police officer that the pair – a 53-year-old woman and her teenage son – were exempt?
NSW Police deputy commissioner Jeff Loy told reporters on Sunday that a communication breakdown took place and that a language barrier caused some confusion.
"It was a police mistake, we own the mistake and we'll move forward for it," he said.
But there was no information about why the officer thought they were exempt.
Passengers arriving at Sydney airport greeted by staff in full PPE. Photo / Supplied WGP
Under the NSW Government's quarantine rules for international arrivals, there are no exemptions that allow a person to bypass quarantine in one state and catch a flight to another state.
"If you arrive in NSW from overseas, you must go into quarantine for 14 days before continuing your journey to another state or territory," the rule states.
There are a very limited number of reasons an exemption might be granted, but the conditions for exemption are rarely met.
"Exemptions are only considered where there are strong medical, health or compassionate grounds," a NSW Health document states.
The other reason a person might skip quarantine is if they're flying out of the country again. Not flying to another state or territory. The explanation from NSW Police, that an officer believed the pair were exempt, doesn't explain how he came to that conclusion. What happened?? pic.twitter.com/aEKukE5JCT
The pair landed at Sydney International Airport from Japan about 9.45am on Saturday and were able to board a flight to Melbourne without issue.
Deputy Commissioner Loy said the officer who made the mistake was "very remorseful" and NSW Police had "doubled down on standards" as a result of the error.
"Is it fail safe? Obviously not. But we've admitted the error. When you consider there's two people out of 100,000 passengers since March this year in this operation, it really is outstanding.
"We don't propose any action against the officer. We actually recommend that police do come forward when they make honest mistakes to tell the truth."
The quarantine breach was discovered by an alert employee at Melbourne airport after the pair passed through all checks at arrival and were preparing to book a rental car.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday that the pair were "in a queue waiting to get a bus (at Sydney) and then they weren't".
Next minute they're making quite a journey to the other terminal. Tickets purchased en route," he said, before offering that "these things will happen from time to time".
On arrival in Melbourne, Victorian authorities advised NSW Health the pair were not granted an approved exemption.
