As NSW grapples with the Northern Beaches cluster, experts call for more changes to hotel quarantine

As Australia finds itself grappling with yet another coronavirus cluster ahead of Christmas, experts are calling for further changes to the system to triage returning travellers from “high-risk” countries,

The Northern Beaches outbreak, believed to have originated from an overseas strain, has already prompted changes to rules for inbound international air crew arriving in New South Wales, who are not subject to the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine scheme.

As states and territories move to bolster their own response, Victoria has announced it will also transition to a regime where international air crew are located in a small number of hotels to ensure “greater containment”.