An Australian woman who feared she would not get to say goodbye to her dying father after flying in from the US has been granted an exemption to leave Sydney hotel quarantine and travel to Melbourne.
Anna Coffey, 32, flew to Sydney from New York last week after her 80-year-old father John suffered a stroke and was put in palliative care in a Melbourne hospital.
Ms Coffey was stuck in a Sydney quarantine hotel, unable to drive to Victoria because of the lockdowns in NSW, until an 11th-hour exemption was granted on Tuesday night.
Ms Coffey, who is fully vaccinated and has tested negative to COVID-19, needed to get exemptions from NSW and Victoria Health.
On Tuesday night it was confirmed that an exemption had been granted under compassionate grounds to complete her quarantine in Victoria given her father’s failing health.
Coronavirus rules mean international arrivals who are in quarantine are not able to board commercial passenger flights.
Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley discussed Ms Coffey’s case with his NSW counterpart Brad Hazzard before the exemption was granted, Nine newspapers reported.
After consultation between the NSW and Victorian health departments, permission to travel was granted.
“In this circumstance, Ms Coffey will be permitted to travel by car to Melbourne, providing all PPE and physical distancing requirements are able to be met,” a departmental statement said.
Ms Coffey told Nine newspapers she was “thrilled with the outcome” and could not wait to see her father for what she said “will be a very emotional reunion”.
Earlier on Tuesday Ms Coffey was told that to move her quarantine location she would need to charter a flight to Melbourne at an estimated cost of at least $ 7500.
She told the Nine network she was not confident she would get to see her father in his final days.
“It’s not right that the privilege of seeing your dying family member is reserved only for people with money. That’s just not right,” she said.
Ms Coffey feared she would not make it in time to be reunited with John if she was forced to complete the required 14 days in Sydney quarantine.
Last week, US citizen Mark Kilian was reunited with his dying father at a Gold Coast hospital after spending eight days in quarantine and hiring a $ 15,000 chartered jet to fly up from Sydney.
Australian Associated Press