Travellers cross into the Red Centre

TRAVELLERS from Sydney have arrived in Alice Springs following the announcement of several NSW COVID-19 hotspots

• Uluru national park closed amid coronavirus fears
• NT government to pay hiked up airfare prices after chaos following sudden border closure

IAN Ben described his flight from Sydney to Alice Springs yesterday as “fairly straightforward” despite the sudden border closure with New South Wales.

Mr Ben lives just outside Taree in NSW, which is outside the designated COVID-19 hot spots.

He travelled to Alice Springs on the noticeably under-capacity flight to visit his wife, who works locally.

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Mr Ben said this was his first visit to Alice since July when border containment was operated by police.

“The process has evolved somewhat. It was a bit disorganised back then but it seems to be more organised. They dispatch passengers to desks for processing now.

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“No complaints this time around. Other than that I’ve been up since 3.30am (NT time),” Mr Ben said.

Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison declared Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra and Central Coast as coronavirus hot spot areas from 3pm Sunday.