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Canberra Today 19°/24° | Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Cops take charge of quarantine checks 

ACT chief police officer Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan

ACT policing has activated a dedicated team to check the increasing number of people self-isolating and quarantining in the ACT, says Canberra’s top cop Neil Gaughan. 

From close of business today (July 10), ACT chief police officer, Deputy Commissioner Gaughan says ACT police will have gained access to the Services NSW database so they can monitor anyone coming into Canberra from Victoria. 

“What that means is we will have a record of every person who entered NSW from Victoria, and we will have the ability, including registration and addresses, to actually check them,” the deputy commissioner says.

“So those who haven’t registered with ACT Health, I ask you to do so. If you haven’t done so, you’ll probably be the first one visited by ACT policing so compliance is really important.”

These quarantine checks are in response to there being a growing number of people in quarantine and self-isolation across Canberra. 

To date, ACT Policing has done 60 spot checks at 25 different locations. It has also received 40 alleged non-compliance issues in the last few days. 

“I anticipate that that will ramp up pretty quickly,” Mr Gaughan says. 

“For people in quarantine and self-isolation, if you haven’t had a visit yet from ACT Policing, you will in the next few days.”

Mr Gaughan says there’s been a very small number of people who have broken their quarantine, about two. 

“There were two people that we’ve had to remind of their responsibilities but the time for reminding people of responsibilities is probably over,” says Mr Gaughan, although he says police still have not issued an infringement in the territory.

“There are no excuses now. We’ve been living with COVID-19 for several months and we are all aware of our personal responsibilities.

“If we are having to remind the same people, there will be issues with an infringement,” he says. 

The two other police teams will continue to police Canberra’s night life district and enforce social distancing requirements.

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