Tasmania will step up coronavirus testing efforts in hotel quarantine facilities after the state recorded its first infection in more than two months.
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A young woman who had returned from Victoria about a week ago tested positive while in hotel quarantine on Monday.
She is being treated in the Royal Hobart Hospital and is in a stable condition.
The woman had been in quarantine since arriving on the island and was only infectious for a few days before her test result, authorities say.
"At this stage the risk of spread to guests, staff or the wider community is low," Acting Public Health Director Scott McKeown told reporters on Tuesday.
As a precaution, current and former guests and staff at the hotel in Hobart are being offered testing.
Dr McKeown said no close contacts of the woman have been identified and she was not infectious on her flight into the state or in transit to the hotel.
From Wednesday, all people in state government-run quarantine facilities will be "strongly recommended" to get COVID-19 tests on days five and 12 of their fortnight stay.
The government stopped short of mandating the tests but said people could be forced to take one under public health orders.
"We expect all people to agree to have a test," Dr McKeown said.
"If we felt there was an assessment that a person posed a risk but they were refusing testing, we would consider using those powers."
More than 700 people are currently staying in nine government facilities.
Tasmania had last recorded a COVID-19 infection 65 days ago and became free of active cases in mid-June.
The new infection takes the state's overall number of cases to 227.
Tasmania has banned the entry of non-essential travellers from Victoria but residents are allowed to return home from the virus-hit mainland state - they must quarantine in government accommodation for two weeks.
Australian Associated Press
