Border between NSW and Victoria to close as Covid-19 outbreak worsens

The border between New South Wales and Victoria has remained open throughout the Covid-19 pandemic so far, despite most other Australian states and territories making the difficult decision to close their own borders in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus. But it has now been announced that the border between the two eastern states will close from tomorrow, as the number of confirmed cases in Victoria continues to rise.

The decision was made on Monday morning following a meeting between the respective state premiers and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and comes as the number of active cases in Victoria surpassed 600. The border will be closed from midnight on Tuesday.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews delivered a press conference this morning and confirmed that the border would be policed on the NSW side. Neither Victoria nor NSW had closed their borders in response to the pandemic up until this point.

“I am grateful to the Premier of New South Wales for her support in giving affect to that,” Andrews said. “This is one of those precautionary measures, it is one of those things that I think will help us in broader terms contain the spread of the virus and what it means, for instance, is many staff who are currently being employed or deployed to take temperatures, to do all sorts of coordination work, whether it be at our airports or at train stations, for instance, will no longer have to do that work and can potentially be redeployed into arguably much more important roles.

“I apologise for any inconvenience that will cause people who have unavoidable travel to New South Wales.”

It comes as the total number of active cases in the southern state hit 645, with the number of cases rising by 127 on Monday. Premier Andrews also confirmed that a man in his 90s passed away as a result of the virus overnight, while five other Victorians remain in intensive care.

The landmark decision will mark the first time in a century that the border between the two states has been closed. Premier Andrews also confirmed that a permit system will be put in place for those people who reside in border towns, such as Albury-Wodonga.

Many states and territories made the decision to close or restrict their borders as Covid-19 began to spread across Australia earlier this year, however many have begun to ease those restrictions. Queensland is set to open its borders to all visitors, bar those from Victoria, from July 10. While the government in South Australia scrapped its commitment to reopen its domestic borders entirely on July 20, also choosing to bar those from Victoria from entering.