THE Victoria-New South Wales border bubble tightens further from midnight Thursday, with eight local government areas (LGAs) booted from the bubble.
From Friday, residents of Buloke, Loddon, Yarriambiack, Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, and City of Benalla in Victoria and Broken Hill and Edward River residents in NSW will no longer be able to get Cross Border Extreme Risk Zone permits to enter Victoria.
The announcement was made in a statement from Victoria’s Chief Health Officer late on Wednesday.
“With over one thousand cases per day, and a trajectory of exponential growth, the risk that NSW poses to Victoria is bigger than ever,” Professor Brett Sutton’s statement said.
Earlier in the day, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews flagged the possibility border closures could remain in place well into next year or until vaccination thresholds are met, as COVID-19 cases continue to increase on both sides of the border.
“No one is happy about that but again we will have many more options once we get to 80 per cent and once (NSW) are at 80 per cent,” he said on Wednesday.
Mildura police superintendent Rebecca Olsen said cops on both sides of the border were prepared to enforce the closure, including extra forces deployed to help with border patrols in the region.
“Members deployed across the Mallee continue to work as a roving and roaming presence covering both the cross-border travellers but also those travelling to the Mallee from Melbourne,” she said.
“You will see increased presence around those border crossings particularly around the Yelta crossing where we have seen increased breaches particularly around the heavy vehicle transport providers not carrying permits or COVID testing requirements.
“VicPol work closely with NSWPol, working both sides of the border in support of each other.”
