A 39-year-old man inAustralian city of Perth allegedly used a rope made from bed sheets to shimmydown from a fourth floor hotel room and flee Australian quarantine, policesaid.
After arriving in theWest Coast city on an interstate flight from Brisbane, the man had hisapplication for entry refused under the state's tough border entry rulesintended to stop the virus entering from elsewhere in the country.
The man was told toleave the state within 48 hours and taken to a hotel for temporary quarantine,but just before 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday (17:00 GMT on Monday) "he climbed outa window of the fourth floor room using a rope made of bed sheets and fled thearea", Western Australia Police said in a Facebook post
More than half ofAustralia's 26 million population are in lockdown in those threestates, and restrictions have been imposed elsewhere to stop the spread.
The man was told toleave Western Australia within 48 hours and was sent to a quarantine hotelovernight. The man allegedly made a getaway after midnight, but was caughtTuesday morning and charged with failure to comply with a direction andproviding false information.
Australia's bordershave been closed since last year to almost all non-Australians, and even thoseallowed into the country must pay thousands of dollars to quarantine for twoweeks in a hotel. Spaces in the state-run quarantine hotels are limited, sofewer tickets are being sold for international flights. Thousands ofAustralians have complained that they have been shut out of the country.
Australians under 60are advised to get the Pfizer vaccine, but to date supplies have been limited.Another one million Pfizer doses arrived in the country earlier this week, butpeople aged under 40 still haven't been offered the vaccine under the officialprogram.
That's causingconcern in states where Delta poses a threat. Health officials are contacttracing and ordering people who may have been exposed to the virus toself-isolate and get tested.
(Article by Sheetal Mahajan)