More Qantas flights revealed to have been crewed by staff with Covid-19

Several more Qantas flights, both international and domestic, have been crewed by staff with Covid-19, raising new questions about the safety of the exemption from the 14-day self isolation rule for airline crews. The new revelations come as the Transport Workers Union says it lodged notice alleging a breach of workplace safety against Qantas on Wednesday, after another of its members – a freight worker – was diagnosed with the virus in Sydney. Qantas strongly rejects the union’s claims and says the worker acquired coronavirus from a family member. The TWU told Qantas it believed the airline had failed to reduce the risk of infection to workers, “resulting in infection of a significant number of workers in its operations in Sydney and interstate, and the likely exposure of hundreds more”. The union is demanding information on the number of workers who have been infected with Covid-19, the steps taken to isolate workers who may have been in contact with the virus and copies of hazard management plans to minimise the risk of infection. In the case of the freight worker, Qantas said the TWU’s claims were baseless and accused the union of trying to gain political mileage from the misfortune of its members. Qantas insists that transmission of coronavirus to its workers on flights is low risk, despite social distancing being difficult or impossible on planes.<br/>