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Woman forced into Perth quarantine after arriving from Cook Islands on flight NZ175 without isolating

Natalie Richards and Anthony PiovesanThe West Australian
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The woman arrived in Perth on Air New Zealand flight 175.
Camera IconThe woman arrived in Perth on Air New Zealand flight 175. Credit: Bret Hartman/Air New Zealand

A woman has been forced into Perth’s hotel quarantine system after managing to avoid isolation, despite travelling from a country outside the Trans-Tasman bubble.

The woman originally travelled from the Cook Islands to Auckland but the Health Department said she did not quarantine before boarding a flight to Perth.

She arrived in Perth on Air New Zealand flight 175 at 2pm and was taken to a quarantine hotel.

The Health Department said she will undergo a COVID-19 test while in quarantine, but says she is unlikely to test positive.

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“The World Health Organization is reporting zero cases of COVID-19 in the Cook Islands from 3 January 2020 to 29 April 2021. Therefore it is very unlikely the passenger could have COVID-19,” the Health Department said this afternoon.

The other passengers on board the flight were allowed to leave in the usual way and the Health Department said PPE and cleaning measures were “standard practise” on the place and at the airport.

Earlier, Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed to close travel loopholes which had allowed passengers from India to fly into Australia via other countries.

Mr Morrison said his government had quickly moved to stop travellers using Qatar as a route into Australia, following the arrival of Aussie cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson on Thursday afternoon.

“This was one (loophole) that became apparent to us on Wednesday, we have since closed it off at 7pm on Wednesday – the cricketers got away just before that,” Mr Morrison told 2GB on Friday morning.

“We had information on Monday that wasn’t possible … I’m advised there is a 14-day requirement when someone goes into Doha, but that wasn’t being applied to transit passengers.”

Mr Morrison said he had already been advised by airlines that Indian travellers were no longer able to use Doha to gain access to Australia

“The places they are potentially coming from are Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and our advice is that those routes are closed off,” he said.

“I propose to take further action today which will be done under the biosecurity act.”

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