Contact tracing underway following confirmed case of Covid

Peter Gutwein,Premier

The Tasmanian Government’s priority is to keep Tasmanians safe and secure.

While we have in place strong measures to protect our community including our border controls, given the COVID-19 outbreaks across Australia, we have been preparing for a case in Tasmania.

Today I can confirm a 31 year old man, who was in hotel quarantine in Launceston, has tested positive to COVID-19 this morning.

This is not a case of community transmission.

The man flew into Launceston on Monday and as he did not have a valid G2G pass upon arrival, he was immediately sent into hotel quarantine, before choosing to leave the State yesterday.

The public health team is now in the process of contacting people who may have come into contact with the man through managed transit corridors, to ask that they isolate immediately and get tested if requested.

At this stage, our advice is that the risk is low, and we will not be proceeding to a broader lockdown.

However, based on the developing situation in Victoria, together with minimising any risk within Launceston, the AFL game between Hawthorn and Collingwood that was scheduled to go ahead on Sunday in Launceston, will not proceed.

While this is no doubt disappointing for many, the safety of Tasmanians and our community will always come first and this is the responsible course of action to protect the community.

I will provide a further update later today in terms of any additional measures as well as further changes to our border restrictions, in light of the escalating situation in Victoria.

This case once again demonstrates the importance of our COVID-Safe measures and I ask Tasmanians to continue to do the right thing.

Cover your coughs and sneezes, wash your hands and sanitise them regularly, remember appropriate social distancing, use the check-in Tas App at venues to help with contact tracing, stay home if you’re unwell, and don’t hesitate to get a test – even if you have mild symptoms.

/Public Release. View in full here.