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A mass operation is underway in Sydney as the first returned air travellers to go into mandatory coronavirus quarantine two weeks ago are released.
Key points:
- The first batch of guests under hotel quarantine were allowed to leave on Saturday
- Guests were issued with official paperwork confirming completion of quarantine
- It's understood interstate travellers are facing issues due to domestic flight cutbacks.
Roughly 1,300 passengers who arrived at Sydney International Airport on March 29 will today be allowed to leave the hotels they have been staying at after a 14-day quarantine period.
NSW Police said it was working with NSW Health, the Australian Defence Force, the Office of the Sheriff of NSW and hotel staff to organise the departures.
"A large-scale multi-agency operation is underway this morning as the repatriation of thousands of returned travellers in mandatory quarantine at hotels across Sydney begins," police said in a statement.
It is understood interstate travellers are facing issues returning home due to limited domestic flights.
Police said they were assisting with alternative arrangements.
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There were mixed feelings among guests leaving the Intercontinental Sydney, with some accepting the quarantine better than others.
Barry Dahms had been on a trip to London before he was put into quarantine.
He said the food quality had been good, and he received daily check-up calls from nurses, hotel staff, the police and a psychologist.
"It had to be done," he said. "There are worse places to be spending time than in one's gilded cage on the 18th floor.
"I'm happy to be out, but I was impressed."
Mr Dahms had been given paperwork by NSW Health confirming his completion of the quarantine period.
Another young woman was assisted with her luggage by an Australian Defence Force officer in leaving the hotel.
"It was all right, the guys were really nice and the hotel was really nice," she said.
"My room was really big but I'm glad I have fresh air now, very glad.
"I was just glad everyone was safe and I didn't infect anyone.
"It's only two weeks, you can get through anything, it's not really that hard. We got fed good food, we had access to Uber Eats, we're good."
'We're a bit relieved'
ABC journalist Jarrod Whittaker has been in quarantine at the Intercontinental with his family after returning from a trip to Chile.
He said he had been tested for coronavirus after developing a sore throat, but had been cleared to leave after a negative result.
"We're really happy to have finished quarantine and be on our way back to our home in regional Victoria," he said.
"The hotel workers, medical staff, police and military all made it a pretty smooth experience."
He said the family's initial flight to Melbourne today had been cancelled but they had managed to rebook on the only Sydney-Melbourne flight running.
"So we're a bit relieved and very much looking forward to getting home tonight," he said.
'It was just a nightmare'
Another man leaving the hotel with his family said the experience had been "terrible".
"The first three days were pretty horrendous actually because you're going from having complete freedom to being confined, not able to leave your room at all, and the food was terrible as well," he said.
He said they were supplied microwave meals which his young son refused to eat.
"It was just a nightmare … you really felt like you were in prison."
He said he thought the Government hadn't fully thought through the quarantine strategy.
"We've got a house that's completely empty at the moment," he said.
"We would have been happy to put a bracelet on our ankles and stay there at home and have our two-week period at home, but obviously that wasn't organised by the Government."
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Topics: covid-19, diseases-and-disorders, health, police, states-and-territories, travel-health-and-safety, travel-and-tourism, infectious-diseases-other, sydney-2000, nsw
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