Photos show chaos at Sydney airport as travellers flee city after Covid outbreak
There are chaotic scenes at Sydney airport as travellers desperately try to leave NSW as a coronavirus cluster threatens the Northern Beaches.
With the cluster now growing to 28 just a week before Christmas, long queues are forming at Sydney airport as people in the hotspot are warned to stay home for three days.
Other states have already put plans in place to protect themselves from any potential outbreak in NSW.
With Christmas plans now thrown into disarray as health authorities scramble to contain the latest locally acquired cases, people are making one last ditch effort to get out of Sydney.
Photos from Sydney airport show hordes of people in queues for flight check-in, many of whom are not wearing masks or practising social distancing.
A man visiting NSW from Western Australia told Nine News he was heading back to Perth five days earlier than planned as a result of the cluster.
“We were originally heading back to Perth next Wednesday but when we saw the emergence of Covid-19 we thought there would be a good chance the border would close or harsher restrictions would prevent that,” he said.
“So we had to make the call and decided we’d have to get back as soon as we can, knowing we might have to isolate.”
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States and territories crack down on NSW
WA has instructed people who arrive from NSW to self-isolate for 14 days, while those already in WA required to self-isolate starting from the date they were last on the northern beaches.
Anyone in South Australia who recently arrived from NSW should self-isolate for 14 days and get tested if they have visited venues on NSW’s health alert list.
People who enter the Northern Territory from Sydney’s Northern Beaches Council area will need to undergo 14 days of supervised quarantine.
Queensland announced anyone who enters the state and has been on Sydney's northern beaches since December 11 must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days since their last visit to the region.
From Saturday, all people who have been on the northern beaches and want to enter Queensland will be forced into hotel quarantine.
Anyone who enters the ACT and has been on Sydney's northern beaches since December 11 must get tested and self-isolate.
Those who enter Victoria from Sydney's northern beaches must get tested and self-isolate for 14 days.
Anyone who has visited the Northern Beaches Council area since December 11, as well as the Kirribilli Club, Penrith RSL and Gannons Park in Peakhurst at various times between December 11 and December 14, is barred from entering Tasmania.
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