Victoria is set to follow New South Wales in making COVID-19 testing mandatory for all returned overseas travellers. As of today, anyone who refuses to submit to COVID-19 testing will be forced to stay in hotel quarantine for a further ten days.
All returned travellers who left hotel quarantine have been tested, premier Daniel Andrews confirmed. “And everybody who leaves from right now, if they don’t agree to a test, then they will be in our care for a total of 24 days – not 14 days. I don’t think that too many people are going to make that choice.”
The move comes after it emerged that close to a third of those undertaking mandatory hotel quarantines in Victoria were refusing to be tested – although the premier insisted the current rate was actually much lower. It comes as Victoria records 49 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily total since 2 April.
