A fortnight after the Black Rock cluster sparked alarm in Victoria, the state has now gone one week without recording a single local case.
Victoria has marked one week without community transmission after the Black Rock cluster that sparked alarm early in the new year.
No new local cases of coronavirus were recorded overnight, but three have emerged in hotel quarantine.
Nearly 18,000 tests were received on Tuesday, and 3 active cases remain across the state.
Meanwhile, the state government is under pressure to reclassify parts of its new travel permit system amid confusion and frustration in border communities.
More than 54,000 permits were issued by Tuesday afternoon after the new system failed to launch on time on Monday night. But frustration continued for residents near both the NSW and South Australian borders, who said the system was an overreach.
Under a border bubble arrangement with NSW, Victorians from as far south as Bendigo can freely cross the border and travel as far as Wagga Wagga.
But any Victorians outside the bubble can’t cross the border without having to take a COVID-19 test and isolate until they get a negative result.
Kylie, who didn’t want to give her surname, said her NSW-based parents could visit her in Victoria with no checks, but she was forced to isolate after visiting them.
“I fully support the bubble, but it doesn’t make sense,” she said.
“All of the NSW border bubble can travel freely throughout Victoria, as long as it is necessary, and I can’t.”
All the staff and students who live in South Australia but attend the primary school in Apsley in Victoria would be forced to apply for a permit daily.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien wants the green zone permits scrapped. “That seems to be just a massive bureaucratic overreach. It doesn’t keep anyone safe. It simply makes it difficult for Victorians to come home and come home safely,” he said.
A declaration that people hadn’t been to a red zone in the previous 14 days confused Victorians returning from regional NSW, which moved from a hots pot to an orange classification at 6pm on Monday.
A government spokesman confirmed the new classification and said people in newly orange zones could apply for a permit.
Matt Curry crossed the Echuca-Moama border from his home in Albury with his family where cars entered Victoria via a single lane. He said: “It’s a lot of effort for not many cases. You just have to grin and bear it.”
Liberty Victoria President Julia Kretzenbacher said it was concerning that Victorians were prevented from returning home.
“We understand that there need to be proactive steps taken to limit the spread of COVID-19 and the introduction of a permit system can make things a bit clearer for people,” she said.
“However, we are concerned that the current system seems to exclude Victorians in the red zone from returning home, with uncertainty about when exemptions would be granted.
“Liberty Victoria is concerned about the indefinite exclusion of Victorians stuck in red zones, with no option of home quarantine for those Victorians if they wish to come home.
“Any restrictions on the travel of Victorians have to be proportionate with human rights, including freedom of movement, and the Government needs to explain why home quarantine is not an option for Victorians in the red zone who wish to return home.”
