Repatriation operation in South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: initial planning and preparedness

Abstract

With COVID-19 affecting millions of people around the globe, quarantine of international arrivals is a critical public health measure to prevent further disease transmission in local populations. This measure has also been applied in the repatriation of citizens, undertaken by several countries as an ethical obligation and legal responsibility. This article describes the process of planning and preparing for the repatriation operation in South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interagency collaboration, development of a COVID-19 testing and quarantining protocol, implementing infection prevention and control, and building a specialised health care delivery model were essential aspects of the repatriation operational planning, with a focus on maintaining dignity and wellbeing of the passengers as well as on effective prevention of COVID-19 transmission. From April 2020 to mid-February 2021, more than 14,000 international arrivals travellers have been repatriated under the South Australian repatriation operations. This paper has implications to inform ongoing repatriation efforts in Australia and overseas in a pandemic situation.

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“…She had no known exposures to SARS-CoV-2 and resides in a rural city 650km away from Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. There had been enhanced community testing capacity and uptake for SARS-CoV-2 testing across South Australia, with no cases of COVID-19 detected in the community since December 2020; all cases were among returned international travelers within designated quarantine facilities in Adelaide [4][5][6].…”

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“…All five cases were among returning travelers from overseas or had established close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case. All these cases were required by law to quarantine in a designated facility for 14 days following arrival in South Australia, effectively isolated from the general South Australian population (34). This epidemiological context is informed by the existing statewide surveillance system, which included an expanded testing capacity initiated as part of the COVID-19 emergency response, as well as mandatory requirement for all confirmed COVID-19 cases to be notified to SA Health by pathology providers and diagnosing clinicians.…”

“…The epidemiological context in South Australia during this public health initiative could be described as "no reported cases" under the World Health Organization's four COVID-19 transmission scenarios, with occasional "sporadic cases" effectively separated from the rest of the South Australian community (34,38,39).…”