Australia's Queensland mulls using mining camps for quarantine of int'l travellers

The Australian state of Queensland is considering using mining camps as quarantine sites for international travellers as the region looks to contain the spread of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday.

"We are going to look at all options and one of those options is to look at some of the mining camps that we have in Queensland," Palaszczuk said at a media briefing.

The Queensland premier said that she would raise the idea at a meeting with the federal government in the coming days.

"I think this is a rational option and if we are dealing with a strain which is up to 70 percent more infectious, I think we need to be really serious about it," Palaszczuk remarked, adding that she was hoping to stop placing international travellers in hotel quarantine following an outbreak of the new UK strain at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in the city of Brisbane on Wednesday.

Under current guidance, international travellers arriving in Australia must spend 14 days in self-isolation at a designated quarantine facility.

Australia's Department of Health has confirmed more than 28,600 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and 16 new positive tests were added to the country's case total on Wednesday. (/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )