The government of Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland has launched a new check-in system for its residents’ in-home quarantine, requiring them to answer a randomly-timed text message within 10 minutes. If they do not, police officers will show up at their doorsteps.
The new rules went into effect immediately after they were crafted. They were pushed by the state government of the ruling left-wing Labor Party after health authorities discovered just one new locally transmitted COVID-19 case.
On Thursday, Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D’Ath told residents in-home quarantine that they will receive one text message at a random time at least once a day from her department, Queensland Health.
The message will feature a link that the recipient has to open and respond to within 10 minutes.
Additionally, Queensland Health’s new rules require residents in-home quarantine to keep their mobile data and geolocation services on their mobile phones activated at all times.
This means even if residents respond within 10 minutes, they might still get a compliance visit from the Queensland Police Service if their response was outside an “acceptable geolocation range.”
“This means Queensland Health will be able to ensure individuals in-home quarantine are at the residence they’re lawfully required to be at,” said D’Ath. “It specifically allows authorities to identify if anybody is away from their approved residence.”
The new restrictions will apply to all close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Potential breaches in the restrictions will be assessed by the QPS to identify whether further action is required.
D’Ath justified the system by saying it would “enable real-time monitoring of compliance.”
“For more than 18 months, text messages, phone calls and random inspections for compliance have long been the hallmarks of our home quarantine system, but as the virus evolves, so must our response,” said D’Ath.
Any Queensland resident who violates their home quarantine can be fined up to AU$13,785 ($10,082), spend up to six months in jail and be forced out of their homes and told to go to state-recognized quarantine hotels. They must pay for their mandated stays at the hotels. (Related: MEDICAL POLICE STATE: Elderly Australian couple forced to drive 300 miles to quarantine hotel after filling out form incorrectly.)
The Queensland government passed these new restrictions after state health authorities reported one new local case of COVID-19 in the state.
State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday the one local case was linked to a school cluster on the south side of Brisbane.
“That student is in home quarantine and has not been infectious in the community and once again I want to thank all of the families that are still doing home quarantine, they are keeping Queenslanders safe,” claimed Palaszczuk.
The state has two other cases, but they were acquired overseas and have been forced to stay in hotel quarantine.
No comments:
Post a Comment