NEW South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian says regional Victorians aren’t immune from increasing community spread of the coronavirus in Melbourne.
In a press conference after the announcement borders would shut between NSW and Victoria, Ms Berejiklian said her state had a “no regrets” policy in its response to COVID-19.
Ms Berejiklian said Service NSW would implement the permit system to allow for travel between border communities.
The permits would be available online, but delays were expected initially as the closure is rolled out.
“Anyone who feels they will be impacted too much by this border closure … they are able to go to Service NSW, get a permit, and with that one bit of paper they will have access during the closure,” Ms Berejiklian.
She said she was hoping the closure would be a temporary move, but it would be dependent on health advice.
Ms Berejiklian said the reason for the border closure now, as opposed to earlier in the pandemic, is that cases in Melbourne are growing because of community transmission, not international arrivals in quarantine.
“What is happening now in Victoria is the overwhelming majority – I think in fact all of the cases that Premier Daniel Andrews announced today – are from community transmission,” she said.
“This is unprecedented in Australia.”
