Passengers on Darwin to Sydney flight QF841 deemed close contacts of Qantas crew member with COVID-19

The cabin crew member took QF841 from Darwin to Sydney on December 18.(ABC News: Steven Schubert)
All passengers on board a Qantas flight from Darwin to Sydney that carried a Qantas crew member who later tested positive for coronavirus have been deemed close contacts and are now being asked to self isolate for 14 days and get tested.

Key points:

The Qantas crew member was a passenger on Qantas flight QF841 from Darwin to Sydney last Friday
All passengers on the flight are being asked to self isolate and get tested for coronavirus
Health authorities have previously said the man was unlikely to have been infectious before flying to Sydney
The announcement comes as NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed health authorities were investigating another potential coronavirus case linked to the male Qantas crew member.

“We are investigating another possible case with our colleagues in another jurisdiction that may be linked,” Dr Chant said.

The airline yesterday confirmed the staff member had worked on a repatriation flight from Paris that arrived in Darwin last week before he boarded Darwin to Sydney flight QF841 as a passenger last Friday, December 18.

Dr Chant said contact tracing was now underway.

“All the people who were on the flight from Darwin to Sydney are now considered close contacts and will be immediately tested and asked to self isolate for 14 days,” she said.
One passenger on the flight, who sat in front of a group of Qantas crew members, has told the ABC that the flight was full and that precautions felt relaxed during the flight.

“There was no safe spacing on the plane. The plane was absolutely full,” said Darwin resident Adelaide Wood, who is now self-isolating in Tasmania.

“Other than receiving a little package when you board that has got a face mask, there weren’t any other obvious precautions. The flight had a normal meal service. I had my mask on for the entire flight but some people didn’t at all.”

Ms Wood’s description of the flight comes despite Dr Chant yesterday saying the flight likely had a limited number of people on board.

“There were a number of precautions in place. But there will be a limited number of people on the flight,” Dr Chant said yesterday. Yesterday, Northern Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles said health authorities did not believe the crew member was infectious during his stay in Darwin before flying to Sydney.

“[The crew member] did spend some time in Darwin, but it was under strict CHO directions,” Ms Fyles said at a press conference yesterday.

She said was advised the man exited the Qantas repatriation flight through the RAAF side of Darwin Airport before he a left in a private vehicle, self isolated at a hotel and then returned to Darwin Airport in a private vehicle before boarding the Sydney flight.

Ms Fyles did not specify where the man stayed in Darwin. Yesterday Qantas said the man developed mild symptoms while self isolating at home on Sunday, December 20, and subsequently returned a positive coronavirus test.

The airline said he was now currently in government-managed quarantine accommodation.

This morning, the NT Government announced that a 31-year-old man who arrived on the Paris repatriation flight had tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours.

It follows an announcement on December 19 that a 56-year-old woman who was also on the same Paris flight had tested positive in the Howard Springs quarantine facility.

ABC