FOR the first time, Sunraysia residents will need a permit to leave the house for work under Victoria's latest lockdown restrictions.
From 11.59pm on Monday, workers must carry a permit showing they are an authorised employee or face fines of $1817 (for individuals) or $10,904 (for businesses).
Authorised employees include construction workers, tradespeople, retail workers, health, childcare and aged-care workers and legal practitioners.
Law enforcement, emergency services or health workers need carry only employer-issued photographic ID.
A long list of approved professions and an application form is available at the www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au website.
Mildura Regional Development chief executive Brett Millington said construction was one industry that could be affected by the permit system and its 25 per cent cap on the maximum number of people working on site.
The Delta coronavirus variant was a "new challenge", he said, and the permit system was "really becoming very tight to ensure that the movement of people around the place and interaction with other people is limited".
The latest statewide lockdown, announced by Premier Daniel Andrews on Saturday, will continue until at least September 2.
Following the announcement, the South Australian Government closed its borders to Victorians.
From 6pm Sunday, all returning and relocating residents were unable to enter without an exemption from SA Health.
Approved returning SA residents will be given a quarantine sign, which must be displayed at the premises where they are quarantining, and will be subject to regular compliance checks.
The 70km cross-border bubble remained in place.
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the one-day grace period was given following the announcement on Saturday in an effort to reduce congestion at the border.
Mr Millington welcomed the Victorian Government's announcement that its Business Cost Assistance Program would be extended to regional businesses during the lockdown, but said more support was needed to get businesses through the next few months.
"There are still businesses out there that have received no support whatsoever," he said.
Mr Millington said hospitality businesses in the region were particularly hard-hit by the short notice of the 1pm lockdown, which was announced at 10.45am.
He said there needed to be more support, in particular some compensation for hospitality businesses "that got an announcement at 10 o'clock and lost not just the revenue from that evening, but the preparation and work that had gone into ... the coming night".
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper urged the local community to support businesses by getting vaccinated.
"If you need inspiration to get a vaccination, think of our business community," she said.
"Our business community needs us to get to that golden number of 80 per cent, where we're not going to have to be so reliant on lockdowns."
Under the latest lockdown, regional Victoria will be subject to the same rules as Melbourne, other than the nightly curfew.
There will be only five reasons to leave home: food and essential supplies, care and caregiving, authorised work or education, vaccination and exercise.
Health Minister Martin Foley said measures would be implemented to protect children across the state, with the number of COVID-19 infections among them continuing to rise.
About 80 per cent of active cases in the state are aged below 40 and 25 per cent under the age of nine.
All Victorians have been asked to wear masks outdoors and the government is recommending primary school children wear a mask when not at home.
Playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment have been closed during the lockdown and childcare and early learning centres will be open only to vulnerable children and children of authorised workers who cannot be supervised at home.
Coronavirus case numbers continued to climb in both Victoria and NSW on Sunday, but no new cases were reported in the Mildura or Wentworth local government areas.
Victoria recorded 65 new coronavirus cases, including 21 linked to the Shepparton outbreak, on Sunday. One case linked to the Shepparton outbreak was detected in Mansfield in central Victoria.
NSW reported 830 positive coronavirus cases, including one new case in Wilcannia and one new case in Broken Hill.
A spokesperson for the Far West Local Health District (FWLHD) said the total of active cases was 22 in Wilcannia and two in Broken Hill.
The spokesperson confirmed one active case reported in Wentworth Shire on August 20 was an error and corresponded to a person in Sydney who was listed at an old address.
Sewage testing in Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill has not detected any COVID-19 fragments in the past seven days.
FWLHD called on anyone who had been in Wilcannia in recent days to get tested, regardless of whether they had symptoms.
All Far West residents are also urged to limit their movements in the community.
Anyone experiencing, or has recently experienced, even mild cold-like symptoms is asked to come forward immediately for testing.
