Coronavirus SA: Concerning figure stopping borders opening to NSW
Just hours after opening the South Australian border with the ACT, the state’s Health Minister said there is a new “concern” hindering NSW.
The hopes of travel between NSW and South Australia have been dashed, after the state’s Premier Steven Marshall announced the 14-day quarantine period will remain indefinitely.
ACT residents have been given the green light to travel to South Australia, but Mr Marshall says that residents will only be able to do so if they fly directly from Canberra into the state – meaning no roadtrips are allowed.
Speaking to ABC Breakfast on Wednesday, South Australia Health Minister Stephen Wade said if NSW continues to make good progress, then their position to also allow residents in without mandatory hotel quarantine will change.
But Mr Wade said while NSW was showing “good contact tracing” numbers, there was one dwindling figure that had his state concerned.
“NSW is still under active consideration,” Mr Wade said.
“They’ve made very good progress in recent weeks. If that continues, we look forward to opening up to NSW as soon as possible.
“We’re impressed with the progress that’s been made in terms of the reduction of the new cases. We’re impressed with the level of contact tracing and the efficiency of contact tracing in NSW.
“But there is also a concern right across Australia that there seems to be a reduction in the level of testing. People are not coming forward to be tested at the rate that they have been previously. And that is actually a key indicator as to whether or not there’s COVID-19 in the community.”
RELATED: SA border stays shut to NSW, opens to ACT
RELATED: Border restrictions may ease in Queensland with NSW
On Tuesday, NSW recorded just seven cases however the testing rate had showed a clear drop from previous rates with less than 9000 tests conducted. However, on Wednesday, that testing figure increased to almost 20,000.
Mr Wade stressed that while his state has always been “very keen to open the borders”, border control has been an important part of the state’s public health response and plans to have them in place no longer than necessary.
Since June, residents from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania, could come into South Australia without self-isolating. As of Thursday, residents from the ACT will join that list.
“We’re actively looking at NSW in the coming days,” he said.
“So that means that if all goes well, we’ll be in a situation where only Victoria has, if you like, a heightened level of border control.”
Meanwhile, the border between NSW and Queensland could also be set to soften the requirements to reopen, according to reports.
The chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has previously been vocal about wanting 28 days straight of no community transmission in NSW before reopening the borders, something NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has repeatedly called a “tall order”.
Every time a new case with no known source is recorded in NSW the clock resets to zero, which happened on Tuesday. The last time NSW recorded 14 days of no community transmission was in mid-June.
Queensland’s Deputy Premier Stephen Miles said while southern states were making positive headway in driving down new COVID-19 case numbers, he reiterated how important it was to protect Queensland.
“More people have lost their lives in the past 24 hours in Victoria than in the entire year in Queensland,” he said.
But Queensland Tourism Industry Council boss Daniel Gshwind, has spoken to Dr Young and asked if she would consider slashing that to 14 days, something she is reportedly considering, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
He said he was hoping it would be urgently changed.
“We believe such a high bar is going to be very hard to achieve. It is almost aiming for elimination, which appears to be a far-off objective,” he told the Herald.
Changing the requirement from 28 days to 14 days would need to be agreed to by chief health officers in other states and could be discussed when the Queensland Government reviews border restrictions at the end of September.
– with Ellen Ransley
Eerie post before Aussie found dead in Bali
An Australian woman took to social media just hours before she was found dead in a Bali hotel bathtub.
1000 tourists ‘violently’ ill visiting island
Close to 1000 tourists have fallen ill with a “horror” illness after visiting this idyllic island on what was supposed to be a dream holiday.
Aussies ‘betrayed’ on flight paths
A Senate inquiry has been told flight paths in Australia have been set without consultation to affected communities below, with some still living under unacceptable noise levels.