Victoria to close border to all of NSW after initial ban on Sydney and surrounds

Victoria has escalated its border ban from Sydney and surrounds to all of NSW as five cases were recorded in the state on the last day of 2020.

Victoria will slam shut its border with NSW from 11.59pm on January 1 as the state recorded five locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 on the final day of 2020.

The decision is likely to spark a mad dash of returning Victorians, with residents given until that time to get back into the state, Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said.

NSW recorded 10 local cases on Thursday, and 18 on Wednesday.

The border closure comes just one day after the Victorian government banned anyone who has been in the NSW regions of the Blue Mountains and Wollongong from Sunday from entering Victoria from January 1.

People wanting to return from the two regions must still do so between midnight on Wednesday and 11.59pm on New Year’s Eve.

They must also apply for a new travel permit, get tested within 24 hours of returning to Victoria and self-quarantine at home for 14 days from when they last left the region.

No one who has visited the areas will be able to enter Victoria after December 31.

Anyone found to have entered Victoria without a valid permit of exemption may be fined more than $1652. Intentionally providing false information on a permit application also attracts a fine of $1652 or penalty of up to $9913.

Anyone currently in Victoria who has been in Wollongong or the Blue Mountains since Sunday is urged to get tested and stay at home until a negative test result is received.

Testing sites remain at all terminals at Melbourne Airport and the Department of Health and Human Services will contact each returning traveller and provide them with further information about their quarantine.

The border closure to all of New South Wales follows closures to the Northern Beaches, Greater Sydney and NSW Central Coast areas.

The rest of regional NSW was previously designated as a green zone, allowing travel if people had permits.

Border town residents must travel with valid photo ID with address details.

Victoria Police checkpoints along the border are ensuring only people with valid permits, residents in border communities and those with eligible exemptions can enter Victoria.

WARNINGS NOT TO ENTER BEFORE BORDER CLOSURE

A health spokesman warned on Wednesday “The situation is highly dynamic and the red zone may continue to change at short notice – therefore Victorians are strongly advised not to travel to New South Wales.”

Also on Wednesday Police Minister Lisa Neville told reporters authorities reopening the Victorian border to NSW was a “day-by-day proposition”.

“The level of restrictions in place, the number of cases … will inform the health advice to government about the border,” she told reporters on Wednesday morning.

Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville says authorities are not in a position yet to be contemplating opening the border. Picture: Ian Currie/NCA NewsWire

NSW recorded another 18 cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, including nine linked to the northern beaches cluster.

Six are from the same family and associated with a case in Croydon, in Sydney’s inner west, which was reported on Tuesday and has no known link to the existing outbreak.

Other mystery cases include a woman in her 50s from Wollongong. Her household contact, a woman in her 20s, has since tested positive.

The Croydon cluster, three adults and three children, has raised concerns given there are no known links to the northern beaches outbreak.

Victorians are being advised against travel into NSW. Picture: Simon Dallinger/NCA NewsWire

“I get it’s been a really long year for those communities and lots of border lockdowns, but I think all Victorians would agree that we cannot take the risk of these getting back in our community when we had 10 long, hard months of dealing with this,” Ms Neville said.

“We did an incredible job, and I think everyone is very supportive of measures that try to do everything we can to stop this getting back in our community.”

Despite recording 61 straight days without any new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, Victorians are being urged to stay away from the CBD on New Year’s Eve unless they have a booking at a hospitality venue.

The measure is being asked of Victorians in a bid to limit movement and stop any possible transmission of the virus.