Tasmania border reopens to every state except NSW, Victoria

Tasmania has announced it will reopen state borders later this month – but not every jurisdiction has made the cut for an October entry.

Tasmania has announced it will reopen its state border to every jurisdiction on October 26, but NSW will have to wait a little longer to find out if it’ll be included in the new bubble.

From October 26, residents from South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT will be able to visit quarantine free. NSW and Victoria, however, will need to wait a little longer to find out when they can visit the island state.

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Most states and territories will be able to visit Tasmania from October 26.

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On Tuesday, NSW revealed the state recorded 13 new cases of coronavirus overnight, including seven local positive infections as authorities race to carry out contact tracing.

Speaking to the media, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said the local transmission cases in NSW were being “monitored closely” – but would provide an update on whether they can visit on October 19.

“(We are) not ruling out easing the restrictions with NSW at this stage,” Mr Gutwein said, noting that the state’s figures were “very low” considering the number of residents in NSW.

“We’ve taken the view … that we should wait at least another week and continue to monitor NSW as to whether or not we’d open to New South Wales on the 26th of October.”

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Premier of Tasmania Peter Gutwein will reopen his state to most of Australia later this month. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images.

For people entering the state from October 26, Mr Gutwein said there would be a health screening including temperature checks and questions regarding symptoms.

If a visitor indicated they had a symptom, they would be required to take a COVID test before entry.

At this stage, Tasmania’s border is set to stay closed to travellers from Victoria until December 1.

The Premier assured residents of Tasmania that all “sensible and responsible” measures had been put in place to keep his state safe.

“I want to assure all Tasmanians that the processes put in place at our borders will be sensible and responsible,” he said.

Mr Gutwein said he hoped the latest announcement would pave the way for an international terminal opening in Hobart to allow travel to and from New Zealand.

“We’re working very hard on being able to stand up an interim arrangement in terms of standing up an international terminal at Hobart Airport,” he said.