Covid Victoria: No new local cases, more border restrictions expected as NSW outbreak spreads

Victoria will introduce new border restrictions to those entering the state from Darwin and surrounding areas after fresh cases pushed the NT into lockdown.

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Victoria will slam its borders shut to the Greater Darwin area from 8pm on Sunday night.

The area - which incorporates the local government areas of Darwin, City of Palmerston and Litchfield - has been deemed a red zone under Victoria’s travel permit system.

Passengers on flights to Victoria from Greater Darwin scheduled to depart before the red zone comes into effect can enter Victoria on green zone permits.

All arrivals into Victoria must apply for a travel permit even if they are entering from a green zone.

Non-Victorian residents who have visited a red zone, other than for transit, cannot obtain a permit and cannot enter Victoria.

Victorian residents who have been in a red zone, other than for transit, can obtain a permit to enter Victoria but must travel directly home, get tested, and quarantine for 14 days.

The school holiday rush at Melbourne Airport on Sunday. Picture: Tony Gough

Victorians have also been urged to avoid travelling to NSW after its Covid infections spiked once again, with an alarming 30 cases overnight

Just 11 of those cases had been in isolation throughout their infectious period.

On the first day of a two-week lockdown for Greater Sydney, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the major spike in cases, but all were linked to the Bondi cluster.

It comes as more than 200 additional officers descended on the Victorian and NSW border, in a bid to keep potentially infectious Sydneysiders out of the state.

Meanwhile, part of the Northern Territory will go into lockdown on Sunday, while restrictions will be reinstated in Perth.

The NT regions of Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield will enter a 48-hour lockdown from midday Sunday after four new cases of Covid-19 were recorded.

And WA Health Minister Roger Cook announced Perth and Peel would go into stage one restrictions from 12pm Sunday after a physiotherapist from Perth tested positive to the Delta variant following a trip to Sydney.

Among the restrictions are limits of 150 people for gatherings and no crowd at Optus Stadium for the West Coast Eagles-Western Bulldogs match later on Sunday.

Acting Premier James Merlino said authorities were on high alert to unfolding coronavirus outbreaks across the country.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced 30 new cases in the state overnight. Picture: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

“We are obviously watching the situation in NSW extremely closely,” Mr Merlino said.

“Keeping Victorians safe is our top priority.”

It comes as two terminals of Melbourne Airport were declared Tier 2 coronavirus exposure sites overnight.

Victorian Covid commander Jeroen Weimar urged Victorians to avoid NSW travel over the school holidays, saying “if you have a choice to go, don’t go”.

“If you are in Victoria, only travel to NSW if you absolutely must and we discourage travel to NSW at this point,” he said.

”For those citizens living in NSW, please only come to Victoria if you have to, and abide by our border and get tested when you do — 1500 people have applied for a red border permit, Victorians returning from the greater Sydney area.

“We are keen to welcome them back into Victoria, but it is critical they isolate for 14 days at home without exception and they get a test within 72 hours of their arrival.”

Victoria's Covid-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar has urged against travel to NSW. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Mr Weimar said his biggest concern was “more incursions” coming into Victoria.

“We’re obviously very concerned … we’ve seen two incursions in the last few days from the New South Wales outbreak,” he said.

He also urged returned travellers to get tested if they recently visited NSW.

“I urge anyone who has been in NSW, you must get tested whether you returned today, last week,” Mr Weimar said.

No new local cases have been detected in the Victorian community in the past 24 hours.

More than 20,000 tests were carried out as Melburnians who had visited new exposure sites got tested, while almost 15,000 vaccines doses were delivered.

Three new cases of coronavirus were acquired overseas and are in hotel quarantine, bringing the state’s active total to 44.

DETAILS OF HOLIDAY INN EXPOSURE SITE LISTED

Holiday Inn Express Southbank has been declared a coronavirus exposure site, after an infectious Virgin cabin crew member stayed at the hotel.

Health authorities had not listed the venue as site of concern until Sunday evening, despite flagging the airline worker may have been potentially infectious while staying at the hotel.

Anyone who was on the 10th floor of the venue between 6.15pm-11.59pm on the 25th of June must get tested urgently and isolate until they have received a negative result.

This also applies to anyone who was in the Ground Floor Lobby and The Great Room Bar and Restaurant between 6.00pm-6.45pm that same day and 6.00am-6.45am the following morning.

Anyone who was at the hotel on the 25th of June between 6.00pm-11.59pm and 12.00am-6.45am the following day are also being urged to monitor for coronavirus symptoms.

AIRPORT TERMINALS ON EXPOSURE LIST

Anyone who was in the public areas of Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 2 between 6.30am-7.30am on Saturday, June 26 must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

This also applies to anyone who was in the public areas of Terminal 3 between 5.20pm and 6.50pm on Friday, June 25 and at the terminal from 8am-9am on June 26.

Axil Coffee Roasters, which is located inside Melbourne Airport, has also been declared a Tier 2 exposure site for anyone that was there between 6.30am-7.30am on June 26.

Additionally, Virgin Flight VA334 from Brisbane to Melbourne on June 25 has been declared a Tier 1 exposure as a case was on board that flight.

Anyone who was on that 2.55pm-5.20pm flight must get tested immediately and quarantine for 14 days regardless of the result.

The positive case was a crew member who was on board the Virgin Flight from Brisbane to Melbourne.

Authorities have identified 128 passengers and 43 staff members who were on-board the flight from Brisbane to Melbourne on Friday June 25.

“We are now in the process of contacting all those passengers,” Mr Weimar said.

Chaotic scenes at Melbourne Airport‘s Terminal 3 on Sunday morning. Picture: Tony Gough

They have all been identified as primary close contacts and will be required to isolate for a full 14 days.

In a statement, Virgin Australia said the crew member “always wore a face mask while on-board and when interacting with the public and adhered to infection control and Covid safe protocols.”

It said all close contact team members will be removed from their rostered duties and be required to quarantine for 14 days.

But the Transport Workers Union (TWU) slammed the federal government’s vaccine rollout program, saying the crew member worked on five flights while they were potentially infectious – including a flight to Melbourne – and walked through Melbourne Airport, leading to Terminal Two and Three being listed as exposure sites.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said it was “inexcusable” that workers were still not vaccinated four months into the rollout.

“It is inexcusable that so many frontline workers, particularly those travelling interstate in tightly packed aircraft, have not been protected against a highly contagious virus that has gripped the globe for well over a year,” he said.

“Aviation workers were among the first and most drastically affected by this pandemic.

Flight staff gather at Melbourne Airport’s Terminal 2 on Sunday after it was declared an exposure site overnight. Picture: Tony Gough

“The federal government’s failure to prevent Virgin’s collapse into administration, its failure to implement a national aviation plan, and its failure to ensure essential workers are vaccinated has caused undue suffering and stress to workers, damaged the economy and endangered our communities.”

The federal government has repeatedly defended its rollout and blamed supply issues on global supply chain issues and the unforeseen rare blood clot issue with AstraZeneca’s restricting eligibility.

More than 7 million doses have now been administered in Australia but just four per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Many of the 7 million doses already delivered in Australia are first shots.

Mr Kaine also criticised the NSW government and defended a driver who was the first person to test positive in the Sydney outbreak and worked in the quarantine system, driving international aircrew.

The government questioned whether the driver underwent a daily Covid test or wore a mask at all times, but the NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has since said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the man for breaching health directions.

“Over recent days we have seen a driver linked to aviation brutally scapegoated by the NSW Government rather than admit to their failure to address known cracks in the system, which TWU’s NSW branch had previously raised as a concern,” Mr Kaine said.

Sydney woke to its first full day of lockdown on Sunday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

“We ask the government to cease its condemnation of workers just trying to do their job and concentrate on the important task of keeping our communities safe.”

Meanwhile, authorities are desperately attempting to identify any of the 900 miners from the Granites gold mine in the Northern Territory.

So far, three miners who were onsite during the exposure period have declared they are currently in Victoria.

Residents living in the Oakleigh apartment, where the man who brought the virus into Victoria from Sydney resides, are still being monitored by authorities.

But all 49 residents have been tested and have returned a negative result.

Residents aren’t under a full lockdown due to a lack of evidence that they were exposed to the virus.

“We will be doing, out of an abundance of caution, day six and seven, and day 13 tests (for those residents),” Mr Weimar said.

“They are able to move quite freely, but we will be following up with them over the coming days.”

Meanwhile, 121 of the 131 passengers who were on the Jetstar flight from Sydney to Melbourne last Sunday have been tested.

Passengers lining up for flights at Melbourne Airport on Sunday. Picture: Tony Gough

HOLIDAY RUSH DESPITE OUTBREAK FEARS

The school holiday rush was back on at Melbourne Airport, with news of Covid scares in NSW and Queensland not deterring people from interstate travel.

Terminal 3 was packed, with long lines and limited social distancing as staff worked to get the large numbers of masked travellers checked in.

The Toomey family was all smiles on Sunday morning as they prepared to board a flight to Brisbane.

Mum Natalie said they were looking forward to their first post-Covid interstate flight.

“We’re a little bit nervous but everything seems pretty straight forward, we haven’t had any issues. We’re lucky (we weren’t going to Sydney),” she said.

In arrivals, it was a little quieter with several cancelled Sydney flights freeing up space.

Some NSW flights still landed though, such as the plane recently returned international travellers Paul Hyde, 41, and Simon Benson, 39, were on.

Simon Benson and Paul Hyde with their eight-week-old baby, Lily. Picture: Tony Gough

The pair left Australia for Canada three months ago and returned home with an extra family member – their eight week-old daughter Lily – born via surrogate.

Having just completed their two-week hotel quarantine in Sydney, Mr Hyde said they thankfully did not need to quarantine for an extra two weeks in Melbourne.

“It wasn’t too bad actually,” he said.

“We had food delivered and were in a one-bedroom apartment, so we could do washing for (Lily).

“Getting back from the US isn’t as hard as getting back from Europe.”

But not everyone was happy.

Felix Gorza, who flew to Melbourne from Sydney, said interstate travel was “horrible” right now and lashed the government as incompetent.

“You feel like a prisoner in your own country,” he said.

Meanwhile, Terminal 2 was deserted. Picture: Tony Gough

NEW BORDER RULES FOR NSW, ACT

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said anyone from a NSW red zone would not be allowed into Victoria, with more than 260 police officers now working to prevent people entering the state from red zones.

There will be “highly visible and highly mobile patrols” aimed at making it difficult for people to get across borders, he said.

“Don’t come from a New South Wales red zone to Victoria, and for Victorians, do not visit those red zones in New South Wales,” he said.

“If you run the risk of coming through the land borders from those red zones, you run the risk of substantial fines and being turned around, if not worse. Those fines can be $5000, on the spot.

“And we need to make sure that we do everything that is necessary to keep Victorians safe.

“We will enforce those border restrictions for the safety of every Victorian, and to make sure that we keep the Delta virus north of the river.”

All travellers from regional New South Wales and ACT must get tested and isolate on arrival into Victoria after those areas were declared an orange zone in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak.

It follows the announcement of a two-week lockdown imposed on Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Central Coast and Wollongong.

An orange zone is deemed a medium risk for coronavirus transmission under Victoria’s travel permit system.

Those entering Victoria from NSW and ACT must get tested within 72 hours of entering the state and have a travel permit.

Travellers arriving from declared orange zones cannot isolate in Victoria’s alpine region.

Additionally, Greater Sydney, including Central Coast, Shellharbour, Blue Mountains and Wollongong, have been declared an orange zone retrospectively between 11 June and 1am Friday June 2.

This means those who have travelled to Victoria from Greater Sydney between these dates must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.

The changes will come into effect from 1am on Sunday.

Travellers can obtain permits by heading to service.vic.gov.au

Peter and Allanah Watling with their seven-month-old baby Gigi and 3-year-old son Archie about to board the first flight to New Zealand as part of the travel bubble. Picture: Brad Fleet

NEW ZEALAND SUSPENDS TRAVEL BUBBLE

New Zealand has suspended all quarantine free travel with Australia in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak around the country.

The changes apply to all Australian states and territories and will kick-in this evening from 8.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

The travel bubble will remain paused until next Tuesday at 10.00pm AEST.

The New Zealand government said the decision follows updated public health advice from officials this evening.

“I acknowledge the frustration and inconvenience that comes with this pause, but given the high level of transmissibility of what appears to be the Delta variant, and the fact that there are now multiple community clusters, it is the right thing to do to keep COVID-19 out of New Zealand,” the country’s COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.

The government said it will continue to monitor the situation closely and will review its decision on Monday.

Originally published as Covid Victoria: No new local cases, more border restrictions expected as NSW outbreak spreads