International airline crews were bundled into buses by police on Tuesday before being taken to mandatory hotel quarantine.
The strict new transportation protocol follows revelations thousands of airline crew were allowed to catch Ubers to hotels of their own choosing to quarantine in NSW.
Video showed masked air staff being loaded onto shuttles and driven to two new quarantine hotels in Mascot, in Sydney s inner south.
Crews will remain at the hotels under guard until their return flights leave Australia.
Australia s chief medical officer Professor Paul Kelly said quarantine for international crews has been tightened in NSW, which is trying to suppress a local outbreak centred on Sydney s northern beaches.
NSW resists mandatory masks despite the benefits
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NSW continued to resist imposing mandatory orders for masks to be worn, despite research suggesting it could reduce case infections by around 50 per cent.
The official advice is that masks are recommended but mandating them is unnecessary as the community has complied with social distancing and mask-wearing requests. The feedback I ve had from the northern beaches community is that everyone is being very compliant with the requirements around wearing masks indoors, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
Mask wearing in Sydney remains voluntary despite research showing how effective they are
Sam Mooy
NSW s official transmission risk remained elevated at 1.16, according to the common operating dashboard reported by all states and territories late last week.
Air staff flying into other states haven t been given any special treatment
It s also revealed 900 foreign diplomats have been allowed to isolate at home
It comes after 13 airline crew members broke self-isolation earlier this month
Thousands of international air crew have been allowed to catch Ubers to a hotel of their own choosing to quarantine in NSW, while those landing anywhere else receive no special treatment.
Hundreds of foreign diplomats have also been given permission to skip hotel quarantine and self-isolate at home, despite two breaching the rules and nine testing positive to coronavirus.
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Thirteen airline crew broke self-isolation, left their hotel and headed out for a night on the town after arriving in Sydney on December 5.
News by Clare Armstrong and James O’Doherty 21st Dec 2020 6:43 AM
Premium Content Thousands of international flight crew members and hundreds of foreign diplomats have been given a free pass to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine, with airlines accused of holding NSW lives and livelihoods to ransom . As millions of Australians sacrificed funerals, weddings and family gatherings during the lockdown - and thousands of people languished in hotel quarantine - airline staff were allowed to skip the strict measures in a bid to ensure they could continue to fly into the country. And about 900 foreign diplomats have entered the country since Australia closed its international borders in March and been allowed to quarantine at home.