Rolling coverage: 30-day milestone as Queensland, South Australia, NT to reopen borders
More states are set to welcome Victorians this week — but a testing blitz is underway in Geelong after a startling discovery.
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Victoria has recorded its 30th straight day without a new case of COVID-19 as other states prepare to open their borders this week.
Zero cases were reported from 5905 tests on Sunday, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Victoria still has no active cases of the virus after the last coronavirus patient was discharged last week, with the state having fully recovered from its deadly second wave.
The milestone will be welcome news to travellers and people with family members in Victoria.
Queensland and South Australia will reopen their borders with Victoria on Tuesday, with NSW having lifted travel restrictions last week.
Western Australia is the only state yet to reopen its border with Victoria, with its premier Mark McGowan under pressure to lift quarantine requirements.
The 28-day milestone was previously targeted as the mark at which WA would reopen its Victorian border however Mr McGowan said we would reassess the issue early this week.
GEELONG TESTING BLITZ AFTER ALARMING DISCOVERY
The government has renewed calls for Geelong residents to get tested after an alarming discovery.
The call follows the detection of coronavirus fragments in wastewater in the city’s north last week.
Residents and visitors to Geelong’s northern suburbs and Lara from November 21 to 23 have been urged to get tested regardless of symptoms.
In the 24 hours to Sunday, 5905 people had been tested, along with 9403 tests received the previous day.
Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said obtaining test results from these areas is vital to our surveillance of Victoria’s COVID-19 situation.
“The more people who present for testing, the more confident we can be in our current virus-free status,” he said.
The push comes as Queensland prepares to open its border to Victorians on Tuesday.
Tasmania opened its border to Victoria last week and the Northern Territory will open to Melburnians on Monday.
A permit is still required for South Australians to enter Victoria, while WA Premier Mark McGowan is expected to make an announcement this week on welcoming Victorians.
It comes as hundreds of homeless people in Melbourne — put up in hotels during the pandemic — have been given notice they will be evicted.
The Sunday Herald Sun understands up to 400 residents in about 10 city hotels will lose their rooms this week.
A source revealed most of those affected will end up sleeping rough as there are not enough places in rooming houses to cope with demand.
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