Melbourne COVID hot spot residents to be refused entry to NSW businesses
Businesses in NSW have been told to refuse entry to anyone from Victoria’s coronavirus hot spots, sparking a war of words between the premiers. It comes as the southern state reported 17 new COVID-19 cases today.
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Businesses in NSW have been told to refuse entry to anyone from Victoria’s coronavirus hot spots as the state reported 17 new COVID-19 cases today.
Because of Melbourne’s rate of community coronavirus transmission, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told NSW organisations “not to interact with citizens from Melbourne at this stage”.
After her Deputy Premier John Barilaro suggested ski resorts wanted borders closed, Ms Berejiklian said resort operators should consider rejecting Victorians’ bookings.
Pubs and clubs have also been put on notice to reject anyone who lives in Melbourne’s COVID-19 hot spots.
“I think it’s the prerogative of every business, every organisation, not to accept anybody from those hot spots at this time,” she said.
“I would encourage businesses not to welcome anybody from those hot spots because the advice from the Victorian premier is do not travel interstate if you’re from one of those hot spots,” she said.
In her strongest comments to date on the matter, Ms Berejiklian told NSW residents: “you should not be travelling to Melbourne at this time, because of the rate of community transmission”.
Victoria today reported 17 new COVID-19 cases, of which only one was an overseas traveller, two connected to known cluster, three unknown and 11 under investigation.
In contrast, just one COVID-19 case was detected in NSW yesterday, in a traveller returning from overseas. The case was detected in around 8,000 tests.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was “perfectly comfortable” with the advice issued to NSW residents on Monday about avoiding Melbourne, but would not weigh in on the ski fields issue.
“I’ve had a number of conversations with (Ms Berejiklian) over the last few days,” he said.
“She issued some advice yesterday, I’m perfectly comfortable with that.
“When we need to make – if and when we need to make announcements about how we’re gonna deal with these hot spots further, then, of course, we will.
“But that’s not today.”
Meanwhile, The Black Lives Matter protests have been blamed by Health Minister Greg Hunt for fuelling complacency about coronavirus restrictions as the disease now wreaks havoc in Melbourne.
Mr Hunt has echoed the recent comments of former Victorian MP and police officer Jason Wood that “once the protests occurred, there was a certain relaxation in the broader population”.
“On the basis of, well, gosh, if it’s okay for 10,000 people to get together then surely we can’t be a risk if we’re 10 people and unfortunately that’s not (the case),” he told ABC radio.
It came as NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard warned the Victorian outbreak could just as easily happen in NSW and urged against complacency as the interstate spike jeopardises border easing and the mooted New Zealand travel bubble.
“No one here should think that the same thing can’t happen here,” Mr Hazzard told The Daily Telegraph on Monday night.
“Certainly the message to all of us in NSW is if we drop our guard we could have the same problems. As we are getting out to enjoy the freedoms we thought we might not have for many months we have to safeguard each other by remembering the importance of 1.5m separations.”
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It is expected the state government will go on a strong public awareness offensive in coming days about the dangers of family visits and the caution that must be taken.
“Covid can be a killer and complacency is the enabler,” Mr Hazzard said.
“Families need to understand a family home can be just as dangerous if not more dangerous when large groups gather particularly if someone amongst them who have any flu like symptoms.”
It is understood there was a passing discussion about the matter at cabinet last night.
One senior minister said he did not want the state to be spooked by Victoria and change our own policy settings, however there is also a concern about complacency in the community as restrictions ease and a desire to increase public messaging about the 1.5m rule.
It comes as the situation in Victoria has also forced the Melbourne Storm to relocate to Sydney this week amid safety concerns.
The NRL held an emergency meeting with the Storm on Monday afternoon, where it was agreed the team’s Friday night’s clash against the New Zealand Warriors would now be played at Kogarah.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has held firm on keeping the border to Victoria open, but told NSW residents not to travel to Melbourne until several COVID-19 outbreaks were brought under control.
“Nobody from NSW should be travelling to those hot spots at this present time,” she said.
“People should consider whether they should be travelling to Melbourne at this point in time whilst community transmission is where it is.”
Locked down states are using Victoria’s poor handling of the virus to justify ongoing border closures, with Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan yesterday revealing he had planned an August 8 reopening but that was now in doubt due to the “dire” situation in Melbourne.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said yesterday morning the government would discuss “managing” the number of people coming in from Victoria as the school holidays and the start of the ski season could lead to a surge in travel between the states.
“We’re trying to get out of the COVID crisis, we’re lifting restrictions and now there’s a real threat from Victoria,” he said.
Meanwhile Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy has conceded Victoria‘s rate of community transmission of the virus could impact progress on a New Zealand travel bubble.
“The New Zealand authorities would certainly be concerned about that and they would be watching that,” he said.
“We are currently working with New Zealand on what would be the conditions that we would want for that sort of a border reopening to occur.”
A fourth Victorian who attended the Black Lives Matters protests was among the 16 new COVID-19 cases confirmed by the estate yesterday, as Prof Murphy criticised the large gatherings for fuelling complacency about social distance restrictions.
“I think that the protests set a bad example for others and maybe have contributed to people gathering in larger numbers,” he said.
NSW residents remain blocked from entering almost every state except coronavirus-riddled Victoria, despite being far more successful at controlling the coronavirus.
Prof Murphy said NSW had done a good job of stamping out community transmission, and could not explain why Victoria was struggling, suggesting factors such as geography and “luck” might be at play.
“Both NSW and Victoria have been our concerns in terms of community transmission,” he said.
“NSW have, very fortunately, been in a much stronger position in recent weeks.”
Over the past fortnight the number of COVID-19 cases in NSW without a known source has dropped by four, while Victoria has soared by 33.
In the 24 hours to Monday, NSW conducted 8,800 routine coronavirus tests – 2,500 more than Victoria did in the same time despite being in the midst of a serious community outbreak.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has praised Victoria’s consideration of “stronger measures” in localised areas of Melbourne where the virus is spreading,
“The fact that there are outbreaks should not come as a surprise,” he said.
“Localised containment rings … have always been part of the plan, together with, of course, the isolation.”