‘Concern’ child caught Omicron on flight to Sydney as eighth case confirmed

A child who has been living in Chatswood for the past week has been confirmed as a case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19,casting doubts over the usefulness of the state’s two-tiered quarantine system for international arrivals.

NSW Health said it was “concerned” transmission of the variant may have occurred on board flight QR908 from Doha on Tuesday,November 23,as the child,whose parents are also COVID-positive,had not spent time in southern Africa.

Meanwhile,a passenger on Sunday’s Singapore Airlines flight SQ231,who had recently been in southern Africa,also tested positive to the new variant on Thursday,bringing the total number of Omicron cases in NSW to eight.

A child who visited a number of shops at Chatswood has tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

A child who visited a number of shops at Chatswood has tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.Louise Kennerley

Anyone who was on either flight is considered a close contact of a COVID-19 case and must get a PCR test and self-isolate while waiting for further health advice.

The child is the second international arrival to test positive to Omicron without having spent time in one of the eight southern African nations singled out by NSW’s two-tiered international quarantine system. A man who had been in Nigeria before landing in Sydney last Thursday was determined to also have the variant.

Under new rules introduced by the federal government over the weekend,people arriving in Australia who have been in South Africa,Lesotho,Botswana,Zimbabwe,Mozambique,Namibia,Eswatini or Malawi in the previous fortnight must enter hotel quarantine for 14 days.

NSW requires all other international arrivals to isolate for 72 hours at home. However,passengers on planes where cases of Omicron have been detected over the past week have been directed to immediately get retested and self-isolate for longer periods.

University of Sydney epidemiologist Professor Alexandra Martiniuk said the quarantine arrangements were sensible when the variant was discovered in a concentrated part of the world late last week.

“Initially it made sense because it appeared like it was a ‘southern African’ variant and that would be where we would see the majority of cases,but then data came to light that it was in more than 20 countries,” she said noting that,although South Africa had the most cases of the variant (“if you are plugging holes in the bucket,it is the biggest hole”),international travel meant the rules were imperfect.

“At this point,it is possible to have people coming in from any part of the world with Omicron.”

The latest Omicron case was identified asNSW Health Pathology continues to genomically sequence thousands of recent positive swabs collected in the state,in an attempt to ensure no cases of the variant have been missed.

NSW Health published a number of exposure sites in Chatswood,in Sydney’s north,on Thursday afternoon,including the Mantra Serviced Apartments from Tuesday,November 23 until this Wednesday,when the family moved into NSW Health’s Special Health Accommodation.

The group also visited:

People who were at these locations at these times should also get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

On Thursday evening,the child’s parents’ infections were being genomically sequenced to confirm they also have the variant.

Three of NSW’s eight Omicron cases – the child,the south-west Sydney man who had been in Nigeria and a Central Coast woman who had been in South Africa – were in the community before testing positive. The passenger on flight SQ231 has been in hotel quarantine since arriving in Sydney.

Speaking before Thursday’s infections were announced,Health Minister Brad Hazzard said it was “reassuring” that no locally acquired Omicron cases had been reported,despite recent cases having spent time in shopping centres at Parramatta,Ryde and now Chatswood.

“But I’d have to say,as Health Minister,I seriously question whether we haven’t got it already out in our community as we know it is highly transmissible,” he added.

There were 271 new local cases reported in NSW on Thursday,more than 220 within metropolitan Sydney.

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Mary Ward is a reporter at The Sun-Herald.

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