Victoria lockdown: NSW considers harsher border restrictions

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned she won’t hesitate in enforcing a harder border with Victoria if cases continue to rise.

After reporting 17 new cases of COVID-19 in NSW overnight, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she wouldn’t hesitate in enforcing a harder border with Victoria if cases continue to rise.

Speaking to media on Monday, Ms Berejiklian first announced 13 new cases but that was amended to 17 an hour later, with a baby among the new cases.

The NSW Premier first implemented border controls with the Garden State on July 8.

But while only those authorised under the public health order may enter NSW if they have been in Victoria in the last 14 days, the Premier said that could be strengthened to impact NSW residents if COVID-19 cases don’t start to slow down.

South Australia hardened its borders last week, meaning anyone – including SA residents – would not be able to enter the state if they had been anywhere in Victoria.

“There are various checks in place, and if we need to do more, we will,” Ms Berejiklian said on Monday.

RELATED: Follow our live NSW coronavirus updates

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she won’t hesitate in hardening the border with Victoria even further. Picture: Dylan Coker/NCA NewsWire

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a state of disaster on Sunday. Picture: Daniel Pockett/NCA NewsWire

“As we’ve been saying for weeks, the health advice is evolving. We respond according to what is going on in our state and what we foresee might happen if we don’t take certain actions, and we are always on our toes about what we might need to do to keep things as tight as possible.”

Flights are still landing from Melbourne in Sydney, but passengers are being temperature checked at both ends of the journey.

Ms Berejiklian said there was a fine line when it comes to border restrictions, given that NSW residents were still coming back to their home state – albeit they are now required to self-isolate for 14 days.

RELATED: Follow our live Victoria coronavirus updates

All eyes are on how Victorians respond to the new stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne. Picture: Simon Dallinger/NCA NewsWire

“We have to remember there are still NSW residents coming back. It is very difficult to tell someone you can’t come back home,” she said.

“But obviously we don’t let people come through unless they have a very good reason. If we need to tighten those reasons further, we will.”

As Victoria enters stage 4 restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne, residents are bracing for extreme new restrictions affecting businesses. The announcement will be made today, as it is expected to announce 429 cases recorded overnight.