COVID-19 border bans likely to be eased within a fortnight, bringing relief to cross-border community
The strict border controls may be lifted in days if Victoria can continue to drive down its daily COVID-19 cases. The reopening can’t come soon enough for the hard-hit South East community.
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Tough border restrictions will be lifted within days if Victoria’s desperate coronavirus fight continues to drive a dramatic slump in new infections.
In their most hopeful statement in weeks, authorities on Friday said draconian bans placed on cross border communities this week could be overturned “very soon”.
As the border debate raged on Friday night, Victoria recorded its lowest level of daily cases in more than six weeks. As SA Health recorded a fourth day of zero virus patients, more than 52,000 people registered as a COVID marshal and a new “medihotel” was due to open in Mt Gambier on Saturday.
“There is a great deal of hope that the current trajectory of COVID-19 cases in Victoria will enable us to be able to lift that restriction as soon as possible,” said Police Commissioner Grant Stevens as he admitted the border decision was among the “hardest”.
“Based on the current activity around the virus – and without being held to this – it could be as short as a week or two weeks before we’re able to move back from this current level of cross border community restrictions. But is entirely dependent on the level of activity around COVID-19 in regional Victoria. So it is a daily consideration for us. As soon as we see the right indicators … we will be lifting this restriction as quickly as possible.”
Thousands of Victorians living in border communities are banned from coming to SA to shop, care, work and go to school, in a crackdown to stop the deadly second wave jumping state lines.
As the country’s political leaders argued over border bans, the National Cabinet agreed on Friday to develop a new definition of virus hot spots to guide border closures.
The country’s medical expert panel, the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, will investigate uniform rules before delivering a special paper to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as well as state and territory leaders, in the coming weeks.
Mr Morrison is threatening leaders keeping borders closed with multi-million dollar payments to support airlines hit hard by travel restrictions.
The federal government is subsidising a basic aviation network during the pandemic, but Mr Morrison warned state leaders would have to share the cost if they refused to open up.
Despite Mr Morrison demanding border restrictions’ “economic costs” be considered, senior federal government sources conceded their political popularity was limiting his ability to force the issue.
Sources also said some federal MPs wanted to block SA’s international student pilot program if borders were not lifted soon while senior Ministers said the issue must be resolved before any returns to Adelaide.
Premier Steven Marshall who was due to speak with his Victorian counterpart Dan Andrews on Friday night, said a 40km buffer zone could return along the border “very soon” to end widespread chaos.
He said the borders had helped SA fightback against the virus while international students were an important part of the economy.
“I fully accept this is causing much heartbreak, frustration and anxiety on that border,” he said. “My commitment to you is that we don’t keep these arrangements in place for one day longer than they need to.
“I am hopeful we will be able to move back to the 40km buffer zone and arrangements very soon. It served (us) well.
“I know this would be an enormous benefit to those communities and be an enormous relief to those communities if we could go back to that as quickly as possible.”
Chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier was hopeful the bans could be lifted within a week on current levels as Victoria recorded 179 new cases. While it was its lowest daily increase since mid-July, 15 new cases were found in regional Victoria, bringing the number of active, or infectious, country patients to 269.
“Things change very quickly in a pandemic,” she said.
Prof Spurrier, who with Mr Stevens said western Victoria cases were of greatest concern, has sought “detailed information” from Victorian Health officials to guide her advice.
This includes information on clusters, community transmission data, details on the close contacts in quarantine and that state’s testing levels.
“Many people who live in the border communities feel as much a part of (our) community as we do and we don’t want to be penalising them unnecessarily,” she said.
Mr Stevens, also the state’s COVID co-ordinator, warned of consequences for any abuse of marshals. He said police would educate businesses and patrons but would issue fines for “blatant” disregard of rules.
At least 52,093 people have completed SA Health’s free online training course.
“We are more than happy to be called by any COVID marshal or any business owner and operator who finds that their patrons aren’t doing the right thing,” Mr Stevens said.
“It is in the interests of everybody that we support each other during this time.”
There are six infectious patients in SA quarantine.
Border crackdown hits every man and his dog
About half of vet Claire Law’s business comes from Victoria, but under SA’s tough new border controls, it is the animals and clients she is most worried about.
She treats companion animals, such as cats and dogs, as well as livestock and horses.
Under SA’s latest restrictions, clients from Victoria will no longer be permitted to come to her business, Rural Veterinary Services, which sits near the border at Hynam, east of Naracoorte.
“It’s the animal welfare and it’s also the mental health of the community,” Dr Law said of her biggest concerns.
The closest large-animal vets are in Stawell and Hamilton, 150km-200km away, and there is a small animal vet at Horsham, 130km away.
“They could have an animal that’s been hit by a car 5km away and have to drive 150km, or they euthanise the animal,” Dr Law said.
She estimates that under the new restrictions she will lose about 60 per cent-70 per cent of her business.
At the same time, she will be homeschooling her children, Grace, 9, George, 7, Joseph, 6 and Emma, 2, as they are no longer able to attend Apsley Primary just over the border.
“Our nine-year-old was in tears last night,” Dr Law’s husband, Jason, said.
“She’s worried that her mum and dad are going to lose their jobs. It’s really starting to knock the kids.”
Mr Law is chief pilot and operations manager of Southern Aerial Agriculture, which sprays fertilisers, fungicides and pesticides over farmland.
His cross-border permit still applies, but he says confusion still surrounds what the business is and is not allowed to do on the Victorian side of the border, which accounts for about half its work.
Agriculture businesses are expected to take a big hit from the border crackdown, including from lost income because of difficulty getting to harvest work, and agriculture supply companies being unable to service their existing customer base.
Mr Law said many locals disagreed with plans to bring international students into SA to boost the struggling education sector, while border community businesses struggled to operate.
“If you look at the cross-border it would belittle education in a heartbeat,” he said.
“The cross-border economy needs to be looked at as an accumulative industry rather than individual ones.”
Heading further north, Frances Strawberries owner Sam Frost fought back tears as she described the impacts on her business.
Up to 70 per cent of its customers usually come from Victoria, and the cafe and strawberry-producing business is a popular meeting place for families and friends catching up after travelling from different towns.
Mrs Frost, who employs five staff, will take the weekend to decide whether to temporarily close the cafe.
It was not until Friday that it sunk in the state’s new border controls would come into force as planned.
“There’s been so much heat around it that I thought it might turn it around,” Mrs Frost said.
Even more difficult was the absence of an end date to the impacts on cross-border communities, she said.