UPDATE 5PM
MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper is imploring the Victorian Government to ensure its permit system will allow South Australian medical specialists exemptions to consult in Mildura during the border closure.
Victoria closed its border to South Australia at midnight Thursdayin response to the coronavirus outbreak in the Adelaide suburb of Parafield.
The closure will be a hard border for 48 hours before a permit system comes into effect from midnight Saturday.
Under the hard border, only freight drivers and people with medical or emergency reasons, urgent animal welfare or authorised by law will be able to pass through.
The Victorian Government said final details of the border permit scheme would be provided as soon as possible but it confirmed exemptions would include emergency services work or providing essential services, agricultural work, receiving medical care, obtaining medical supplies, compassionate reasons and shopping for essential supplies.
“After many months of those visiting medical specialists being shut out of Mildura, we need to ensure they will be allowed entry under this current border closure,” Ms Cupper said.
“This decision by the Victorian Government will be hugely disappointing for people in the Mildura electorate who were looking forward to the South Australian border reopening on December 1.
“Whether that will now happen on that date is unknown, but I would hope the Victorian Government would understand how difficult it has been for our community when deciding how long to keep the border closed.
“There are so many people who were looking forward to visiting South Australia for a variety of reasons and it’s so disappointing that is all now in doubt,” Ms Cupper said.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said his government was playing safe with the border closure.
“Victorians have worked too hard and given too much to allow anything to put at risk our goal of reaching COVID normal by Christmas,” he said.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to keep Victorians safe.”
“We know border communities have had an incredibly difficult year – and we don’t take these decisions lightly.
“Our public health team will work closely with South Australia to monitor the outbreak and get the border back open as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Ms Cupper said she was hopeful the impacts of the closure would be relatively small for the electorate’s border communities.
“My understanding would be that the SA permit system allowing free access within the 70km border zone would remain in place, however the hard lockdown in SA will mean only essential services are available,” she said.
Coronavirus fragments were detected in untreated wastewater taken from Portland and Benalla treatment plants on Tuesday.
Residents of Portland and Benalla and anyone who has visited there between November 15 and 17 should get tested if they are showing symptoms and self-isolate until they get results.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
VICTORIA will close its border to South Australia from 11.59pm Thursday night in response to the coronavirus outbreak in the Adelaide suburb of Parafield.
The closure will be a hard border for 48 hours before a permit system comes into effect from midnight Saturday.
Under the hard border, only freight drivers and those with medical or emergency reasons, urgent animal welfare or as authorised by law will be able to pass through the border.
The government said final details of the permit scheme would be provided as soon as possible but the reasons to enter Victoria from South Australia from Saturday night would include:
• Emergency services work or provision of essential services
• Agricultural work
• Receiving medical care (including seeking coronavirus testing), obtaining medical supplies or compassionate reasons
• Shopping to obtain essential supplies
There were no new COVID-19 cases detected overnight on Thursday in South Australia, as the state entered the first of six days of full lockdown.
There are now 23 cases in the Parafield cluster, with 17 other suspected cases linked to it, SA chief health public officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said at a press conference Thursday morning.
In Victoria, fragments of the virus that causes coronavirus were detected in untreated wastewater taken from Portland and Benalla wastewater treatment plants on Tuesday.
Residents of Portland and Benalla and anyone who has visited between November 15 and 17, with any symptoms at all, are urged to get tested and to isolate until they get their result.
