The Governor-General has declared COVID-19 a ‘human biosecurity emergency’ under the Biosecurity Act 2015, allowing the Health Minister to issue targeted, legally enforceable directions and requirements to combat the virus.
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said the declaration was recommended by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy (pictured) in his capacity as the Director of Human Biosecurity.
One of the first emergency requirements announced under the declaration was a ban on international cruise ships entering Australian ports for an initial 30 days, along with changes to student nurse visa restrictions.
“The Commonwealth Government will relax international student nurse visa work conditions to provide workforce continuity for aged care facilities, home care providers and other health care workers,” Mr Morrison said.
He said this would allow international student nurses and other aged care workers to work more than the 40 hours a fortnight that they are currently restricted to.
“There are currently around 900 approved providers of residential aged care employers and around 1,000 approved providers of Home Care Packages,” Mr Morrison said.
“And there are currently around 20,000 international student nurses studying in Australia.”
He also advised Australians currently overseas to return to Australia as soon as possible.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) will do what it can to provide consular advice and assistance, but DFAT’s capacity to do so may be limited by local restrictions on movement and the scale of the challenges posed by COVID-19,” Mr Morrison said.
“Anyone arriving in Australia from overseas, including Australians citizens and permanent residents, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days from the date of arrival.”
He advised Australians who could not, or did not want to return home to follow the advice of local authorities.
The Prime Minister also announced an aviation package waiving a range of Government charges on the industry including aviation fuel excise, Airservices charges on domestic airline operations and domestic and regional aviation security charges.
The National Cabinet is set to meet again today (20 March) to discuss implementation arrangements for indoor gatherings and domestic transport.
