All Australian states and territories have announced new travel restrictions for Victoria following the announcement of a five-day lockdown.
A COVID-19 outbreak, connected to the Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport, has grown to 13 cases, with Premier Daniel Andrews ordering the entire state into a “circuit breaker” lockdown on Friday.
Six of the cases in the Holiday Inn outbreak have been confirmed to be the more infectious UK variant of coronavirus, with the working assumption being that all 13 cases may be the UK variant.
Mr Andrews said the “hyper-infectivity” of the UK variant meant the virus was moving so fast that it presented an enormous risk to the Victorian community.
“This is not the 2020 virus, this is something very different,” he said.
The outbreak in Victoria has prompted several states to introduce border restrictions for people travelling from the state.
Queensland
Queensland has declared greater Melbourne a hotspot, and acting Health Minister Steven Miles said any travellers who have been to Melbourne will be ordered into hotel quarantine from 1am on Saturday.
He said the closure will give contact tracers time to track 1,500 people in Queensland linked to the outbreak in Melbourne.
“This hotspot declaration will allow us to get on top of our contact tracing over that five-day period and monitor the situation there. It will allow us to protect Queenslanders and to support our public health officers doing that contract tracing work and not adding to their workload, while they are racing to get to those contacts,” Dr Miles told reporters.
All travellers entering Queensland will need to make a formal declaration to confirm they haven’t been in Melbourne since 29 January.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory has also declared greater Melbourne a coronavirus hotspot.
The hotspot declaration includes Melbourne Airport, where the Brunetti cafe in Terminal 4 was listed as an exposure site early Friday morning.
People who arrive in the NT from 10:45am on Friday will be required to go into supervised quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.
Anyone who arrived in the NT from Melbourne Airport from 7 February is advised to get tested for the virus and self-quarantine until a negative test result is returned.
In a statement on social media, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the snap decision was due to “extreme concern” over the situation unfolding in Melbourne.
Western Australia
Western Australia will implement a 72-hour hard border closure with Victoria from 6pm on Friday, with the state upgraded to the medium-risk category.
“Victorian arrivals at Perth airport today will be tested at the airport before going into their 14 days of self quarantine, then beginning tonight from 6pm, the full medium risk category will come into force, until at least 12.01am next Tuesday,” Premier Mark McGowan said.
The 72-hour hard border with Victoria means only exempt travellers are to be permitted into WA.
Tasmania
Tasmania will close its border with Victoria from midnight.
Premier Peter Gutwein says the length of the restriction is expected to follow Victoria’s five-day lockdown which begins at 11.59pm on Friday.
“The message is very clear, don’t come to Tasmania,” he said on Friday.
“I would hope this is a temporary measure. We will be cognisant of what occurs in Victoria over the next five days.”
No one from Victoria is allowed to travel to Tasmania unless they are granted special permission as an essential worker.
Returning Tasmanians will still be allowed into the island state but they must quarantine for 14 days.
People in Tasmania who were at terminal four of Melbourne Airport on Tuesday must isolate and call public health immediately.
Anyone at the airport on Sunday and Monday should monitor for symptoms.
South Australia
South Australian Premier Steven Marshall has announced current border restrictions on some Victorian localities will now be extended to everyone in the state.
Anyone who has been in Terminal 4 of the Melbourne Airport since February must quarantine for 14 days from the date of arrival.
Family or household contacts must also quarantine until at least the first negative result has been received.
Authorities say anyone who has been to the airport from 7 February should test and isolate until they get a negative result.
ACT
From midnight Friday, Victorians will have to apply for an exemption to enter the ACT and quarantine on arrival.
The rules are the same that were imposed on Brisbane and Perth during their short lockdowns in recent weeks, Chief MInister Andrew Barr said.
Returning ACT residents can enter, but must self-quarantine.
New South Wales
NSW Health says the state will not close its borders.
However, it said on Friday night that anyone entering from Victoria from Saturday must isolate for five days, overriding advice issued hours earlier the stay-at-home order would apply to anyone who had been in Victoria since 29 January. The cut-off date was changed following advice from Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant.
Those arriving in NSW from Victoria by air, rail or road will be required to complete a declaration form.
Residents in border communities will only have to stay at home for the five days if they have visited greater Melbourne after 11.59pm on Friday.
Border residents travelling from regional Victoria will not need to isolate. They are also exempt from the declaration form requirement.
NSW Health is also strongly discouraging travel to Victoria.
With AAP.
People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction’s restrictions on gathering limits.
If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus.
Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania.
