Premier Peter Gutwein has announced tough new measures to arrest the spread of coronavirus in Tasmania, with any non-essential travellers coming in to the state set to be quarantined in government-run facilities upon arrival.
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It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison's announcement that anyone arriving in Australia from overseas after midnight on Saturday would have to be quarantined in hotels for 14 days.
Mr Gutwein said the recent spike in coronavirus cases in Tasmania was a "wake-up call", adding that the government's new measures were the "toughest in the country".
Coronavirus: All the latest updates on COVID-19 for Tasmani
"From midnight [this] Sunday, any non-essential traveller arriving in the state either through our airports or ferry port will be placed in quarantine for 14 days in a government-run facility," he said.
"Communities Tasmania are establishing these facilities: one in the North, one in the South and one in the North-West."
The facilities will be run by Tasmania Police, with the support of the Australian Defence Force.
"It gives me no pleasure to introduce the measures that we are putting in place," the Premier said.
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"The opportunity that we've got is that we are an island and we need to take advantage of that."
Buses will be utilised to transport travellers from Tasmania's various ports to the quarantine facilities.
Meanwhile, acting Public Health director Scott McKeown confirmed that a further coronavirus case had been identified in Tasmania overnight, bringing the state's total cases to 59.
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