NEW South Wales will relax its border restrictions with Victoria this month as South Australia also moves towards softening its hard border closure with Victoria.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Monday the hard border, put in place in response to Victoria’s devastating COVID-19 second wave, will be lifted on November 23.
Victoria recorded its fifth consecutive day without any new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as South Australia ended the need for cross-border community residents to have weekly coronavirus tests.
SA Premier Steven Marshall said the state’s hard border with Victoria would likely be dropped within two weeks, subject to no further mysterious cases emerging.
“We’ve said that we don’t want to keep the border (closure) in place one day longer than we need to,” Mr Marshall said on Wednesday.
“But the health advice at the moment is that we still need to be very cautious about Victoria.
“They’re just starting to ease their restriction and we need to see the effect of that.”
The premier said if SA moved too early the health consequence and the impacts on the state’s economy could be catastrophic.
“It’s really important we have a methodology that reflects the best science that we know about this disease,” he said.
“So we won’t be rushing it, but I’ve got to say we are all feeling far more confident about Victoria and opening up to them by Christmas.”
SA’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier said her government wanted to return to a softer border arrangement with Victoria, which would still require those crossing into that state to quarantine for 14 days.
Currently, only those seeking to relocate permanently to SA, students and essential workers can travel.
“For the sake of a couple more weeks and for the safety of South Australians, we all need to be a little bit more patient,” Prof Spurrier said.
“Christmas is coming, and the festive season, and we all want to be in a safe place at the same time across Australia.
“I think we can feel quietly confident as a nation that we really have got on top of this.”
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper acknowledged the SA Government’s allowances to scrap weekly COVID-19 tests for communities in the 70km border bubble, but said the time had come to reopen the border entirely.
“The NSW Government’s decision today sends a strong signal to South Australia that if it drags its feet for much longer it will increasingly become a pariah among the States,” she said.
“SA Premier Steven Marshall has indicated his State will look to reopen to Victoria in a few weeks, but with a 14-day quarantine period.
“This is not good enough. There is no need for 14-day quarantine given there are only 30 active cases in Victoria – and none in regional Victoria – and no new cases for five consecutive days.
“I urge Mr Marshall to follow the lead of NSW and reopen its border to Victorians without that unworkable and unnecessary requirement.”
The Northern Territory also reopened its border to regional Victoria this week with no quarantine conditions.
