More than 15,000 people rush to cross Victorian border into SA in two weeks
More than 15,000 people have crossed the Victorian border into SA in the past fortnight, with numbers swelling after the hard border was announced.
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More than 15,000 people have crossed South Australia’s hard border with Victoria in two weeks, data shows, while dozens of travellers have been fined for breaking coronavirus restrictions.
As a fresh border breach emerged, police figures show four travellers have been fined or cautioned for refusing a compulsory COVID-19 test.
The ninth person caught trying to sneak past the state’s borders was in custody on Saturday night. A local saw the sleeping Victorian man, 39, near Renmark’s cemetery at 4.45pm on Friday, 14 hours after he was refused border entry at 2.30am.
It is unclear how he entered the state. He was charged with failing to comply with COVID-19 directions and remanded in police custody to face the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.
His arrest came hours after two Adelaide men allegedly sped through a Dukes Highway border crossing. They are in custody.
A further six people have fronted court in the past two weeks accused of breaching the borders, including a gang of stowaways on a freight train.
Amid mounting concern about the spread of community transmission in Victoria, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens on Friday ordered a tightening of border controls.
Acting on advice from the Transition Committee, Mr Stevens, the state's COVID co-ordinator, authorised a ban on anyone entering from Victoria, including SA residents, from midnight on Tuesday. Essential travellers are exempt.
The first graph shows entries to SA by state – before July 9 hard border closure. The second shows numbers after the border closure
To be considered for crossborder community travel, people must reside within 40km of the border, down from 50km.
New police statistics obtained by the Sunday Mail show 15,303 people have crossed the border from Victoria over 15 days between July 9 and midnight Friday – the most from any state.
In the week before the hard border was introduced, 122 people were crossing into SA a day on average, compared to 496 after the crackdown.
Almost 73,000 border permit applications have been lodged in the past fortnight – 9270 of which are still being processed. Of the total, 10,358 have been rejected and 350 revoked or cancelled.
Police have also revealed 5943 people have submitted “multiple” applications including some as many as nine times. The data includes school holiday days, and provides a breakdown of reasons for the first time, such as compassionate grounds, living in border communities, or needing urgent medical treatment.
The data also includes “other approved non-essential travellers” such as returning South Australians, those arriving from “low community transmission zones” and people from NSW and the ACT.
A total of 120 travellers have been fined at least $1000, or cautioned, for breaking strict rules since the start of July. Last week, a person from Victoria refused to take a COVID-19 test while another three people, were cautioned for the same offence.
“(SA Police) will continue to work with the community and, where appropriate, advice and education will be provided,” a spokeswoman said.
“Police have found that this advice is generally well-received, with an immediate positive change to the behaviour. In situations where there is a blatant disregard for the directions, or if a person has been previously warned for a similar breach, then a fine will issued.”
Authorities could not provide further details about the quartet, where they were isolating or whether they ended up taking a virus test.
SA Health was also unable to provide total testing figures of Victorian travellers. After dismissing the idea for days, Premier Steven Marshall last week announced mandatory tests for travellers from Victoria, who must get checked on the first and 12th day of their fortnight in quarantine.
Under state laws, those who deliberately breach the Public Health Act can face a maximum five years jail or fines of up to $250,000.
New laws passed last week have increased the maximum penalty for breaching borders from a fine alone to a maximum two years in jail.
SA had no new cases on Saturday as total test numbers hit 206,049.
An Adelaide man, a stevedore aged in his 40s and deemed an essential worker allowed to return from Victoria, is the state’s latest case and is in quarantine at home. His wife, a Queen Elizabeth Hospital switchboard operator, has been cleared, as has his daughter and her boyfriend. A group of 10 QEH and Royal Adelaide Hospital “close contacts” are out of isolation.
“Returning South Australians and interstate travellers are doing the right thing and getting tested, with COVID-19 testing rates reaching record numbers this week,” an SA Health spokeswoman said.
Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton said the government “must ensure” everyone from Victoria obeyed restrictions and was tested.
