Greater Melbourne travellers banned in SA

SA’s border has closed to travellers from Greater Melbourne as Victoria braces for a fourth lockdown, set to begin at midnight. The indefinite travel ban will be reviewed daily.

South Australia has shut its border to travellers from Melbourne amid mounting concerns over Victoria’s Covid-19 outbreak, which was sparked by a leak in an Adelaide medi-hotel.

In a snap decision that caused travel chaos and placed elite sport matches at risk, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens authorised the indefinite crackdown from 6pm on Wednesday.

The AFL and club bosses met on Wednesday to discuss potential safety measures, including Covid bubbles and fixture changes.

Victoria will be plunged back into stage three lockdown restrictions from midnight Thursday as the state battles a rapid-moving Covid-19 outbreak, after recording 11 coronavirus cases overnight.

The indefinite travel ban, which Mr Stevens will review daily, means the Adelaide Crows’ game against Richmond, which was due to be held at the MCG on Sunday, is now expected to be played at Giants Stadium.

Covid testing clinics across SA were again overwhelmed with high demand on Thursday.

SA Health is scrambling to track more than 49,000 travellers who crossed the Victorian border over the past three weeks since May 6.

Contact tracers were interviewing 44 people who had visited at least one “high-risk” exposure site among a list of more than 70 Melbourne locations, including the MCG, Marvel Stadium, shopping centres, gyms, and shops.

Melbourne’s Whittlesea cluster, which originated from Adelaide’s Playford Hotel, includes a man who attended Port Adelaide’s match with Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. SA Health, which extended opening hours at several testing clinics, urgently tested two “close contact” fans and their associates.

The pair, one of whom returned a negative result on Wednesday, sat two rows from the infectious man, as did another Port fan who remains in Melbourne quarantine.

A further 464 Port fans, including those in the official cheer squad, must quarantine for 14 days because of their proximity in the first level “pod’ of the Great Southern Stand’s zone four.

Legal directions, signed by Mr Stevens as state Covid co-ordinator, allow only essential travellers, returning residents, relocating people or those fleeing domestic violence to enter SA from Melbourne.

That’s some detour 😬 https://t.co/wljg2Nx474pic.twitter.com/yx8WMvJiI2

— Mikey Nicholson (@Mikey_Nicholson) May 27, 2021

They must quarantine for 14 days and have a Covid test on days one, five and 13.

Anyone who has returned from Greater Melbourne from May 20 must seek those three days of tests and isolate until their first negative result.

Passengers on board the Ghan train who had been to Greater Melbourne in the past 14 days were offloaded in Marla on Thursday morning and put on a bus back to Adelaide.

People travelling from the Bendigo area since last Saturday are allowed into SA but must undertake similar tests.

Passengers arriving at Adelaide Airport before the 6pm deadline on Wednesday expressed relief.

Among them were Sofia and Rhys Roscoe, with their 20-month-old daughter Mia, who are relocating to SA from Melbourne.

“We’re pretty happy we made it,” Ms Roscoe said.

Rhys and Sofia Roscoe arrive at Adelaide Airport with their 20-month-old daughter Mia. Picture: Mark Brake

Arrivals at 6.30pm were allowed through without the need to quarantine for 14 days.

Mr Stevens said up to 50 officers would be stationed at road checkpoints along the Victorian border, days after the police union raised concerns about resourcing.

He said his snap decision was based on urgent advice from chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier. “We’re aware of the fact that other jurisdictions are very concerned about what’s happening in Victoria,” he said,

“I just reiterate border controls are put in place to allow us to take a more relaxed approach with our internal restrictions.” Victorian officials were locked in crisis talks on whether the city would go into lockdown, as contact tracers struggle with an explosion of exposure sites and rising cases.

Professor Spurrier urged people to get vaccinated against Covid, stay home if ill and seek urgent testing for even mild flu-like symptoms.

“This is what happens when you’re in the middle of a pandemic, we still have a risk,” she said. Premier Steven Marshall said the changes “underscores the reason why we need to all make sure that we go and have our vaccination when we become eligible to have it”.

SA Health reported two new ill travellers, aged in their 20s and 50s, on Wednesday.

– With Mitch Clarke