COVID-19 FLIGHT FEARS
Staff fears over risk from flight
TOWNSVILLE Airport will work with police to enforce strict measures to ensure passengers arriving on Sunday’s flight from Melbourne follow COVID-19 protocols. But airport staff, who are set to work a 12-hour shift to prepare and clean the airport ahead of the flight, are understood to be nervous about the health risk.
THE first of multiple incoming flights from a coronavirus hotspot will touch down in Townsville this weekend, sparking concerns from those closest to the risk.
The Townsville Bulletin understands a flight from Melbourne, with a capacity for 180 passengers, is the first direct route into the region since flights stopped when the state’s borders closed.
Sources at the airlines say the Sunday flight may only have a handful of passengers on board.
The big move comes as the State Government tries to lock up the state from Victoria, which is grappling with a second wave of coronavirus.
Victoria recorded 66 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, with hundreds of new infections unable to be traced across the state.
An airport source says crews were getting ready to work a 12-hour shift to prepare, clean and secure the Townsville Airport ahead of the first flight this weekend. Four direct flights from Melbourne were originally scheduled each week, but a Jetstar spokesman yesterday said the airline had reduced the flights to two a week for the rest of July.
It is understood airport staff were nervous about the health risk and Townsville residents needed to know the truth.
“Everyone that I’ve spoken to thinks it’s an absolute joke, but what can we do,” the source said.
The State Government announced this week that all state borders would reopen to travellers from July 10, except with Victoria.
From today, people who had been to Victoria in the fortnight before their arrival were also not welcome.
These visitors will have to apply to enter the Sunshine State through an online form and await the green light, if it comes.
If they do, they must undergo mandatory quarantine in a government-arranged hotel at their own expense for a minimum of 14 days, or turn back.
Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto raised concerns for the quarantine measures, saying the possibility of a dormant case landing in the region and spreading the virus was a “real threat”.
Staff are reportedly cleaning the airport so thoroughly that sanitisers are stripping the paint off walls and varnishes off timber.
The Bulletin understands they are doing everything possible to keep them, and the community safe, but were scared at what might happen next.
“Shifts are changing nonstop. It’s stressful and customers are unhappy and we are slowing everything down, keeping everyone spread out and cleaning,” they said.
The source said there had been multiple incidents at the airport where travellers were turned away for arriving illegally during the height of the pandemic.
The Jetstar spokesman said the Victorian Department of Health would be checking the temperatures of all departing passengers.
Queensland Police and other emergency officers are responsible for enforcing the measures under the Public Health Act 2005 at airports.
All people required to quarantine in government arranged accommodation are confined to their rooms, where they are monitored daily throughout their period of quarantine.