Australia's chief medical officer admits special quarantine arrangements for air crews haven't worked as Sydneysiders wait to hear if a coronavirus outbreak will restrict Christmas gatherings in the city.
Professor Paul Kelly says quarantine for international crews has been tightened in NSW, which is trying to suppress a local outbreak centred on Sydney's northern beaches.
He says air crews allowed to self-quarantine in hotels or at home were under strict rules to keep themselves isolated, but the system hasn't worked.
"Over time we've realised that hasn't worked completely well all the time, and so we've become stricter on that," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"All states and territories have done something more strictly."
NSW has from Tuesday ordered international aircrew into police-supervised quarantine arrangements at two hotels.
Meanwhile, Premier Gladys Berejiklian was pleased with a downward trend in new infections in the northern beaches cluster, but she's yet to decide on Christmas gathering restrictions for Sydney.
Eight new local COVID-19 cases were recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, taking the total cases linked to the northern beaches cluster to 90 after NSW Health conducted a record of almost 44,500 tests.
"The trend is going where we want it to go, where we need it to go ... It's volatile but we're confident that the strategy we've put in place is having the desired effect," she told reporters.
A decision will be made on gathering rules for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day when the NSW cabinet meets on Wednesday.
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese urged NSW to take stronger measures to clamp down on the outbreak.
He also called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to step in and fix the quarantine system, which is a federal responsibility.
He said the federal government should set up more quarantine places and take responsibility for issuing visas for flight crews, some of whom have breached quarantine.
"For too long Scott Morrison has passed off responsibility to the states, being prepared to take credit whenever something goes right, but not being prepared to show the national leadership that is required," Mr Albanese said.
Mr Morrison was preoccupied on Tuesday with his new 22-member cabinet being virtually sworn in.
The prime minister and Governor-General David Hurley posed for the traditional cabinet photo in front of a video-conferencing screen showing 16 ministers.
Prof Kelly also said a meeting of Australia's chief health officers had decided not to suspend flights from the UK to protect against a new strain of COVID-19 there.
He pointed out that most of the countries that have halted flights from the UK did not have hotel quarantine systems, unlike Australia.
"So that's certainly a very big difference here," Prof Kelly said.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old Melbourne girl who tested positive after visiting Sydney has put the Victorian government on alert.
Health Minister Martin Foley said there were no known exposure sites in Victoria and close contacts of the family were being traced.
"It's also a message to all of us that this is not over. Eternal vigilance is the price of staying COVID-free," he told reporters on Tuesday.
People who have been in greater Sydney are currently banned from visiting every state and territory in Australia.
Those who do decide to travel interstate must undergo mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine on arrival.
Australian Associated Press
