Emotional reunions for regional Victorians arriving in the NT on first quarantine-free day
A VICTORIAN grandmother had an emotional reunion with her young granddaughter for the first time in almost a year as the first regional Victorians entered the NT without needing to quarantine today.
Northern Territory
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- Regional Victorians able to enter the NT quarantine-free from today
- NT borders to reopen to regional Victoria next week after revoking its COVID-19 hotspot status
A VICTORIAN grandmother had an emotional reunion with her young granddaughter for the first time in almost a year as the first regional Victorians entered the NT without needing to quarantine today.
Sharon Parsons and her daughter Brodie were the first two quarantine-free arrivals in the NT from the regional Victorian city of Swan Hill.
The pair said they had been counting down the days until they could be reunited with family in Darwin, including little Inca.
“We’re here visiting my daughter and granddaughter, I haven’t seen them since January,” Sharon said.
The pair said they were also keen to have a holiday in the tropics.
“I was so sick of Swan Hill, I’d been stuck there for a year,” said Brodie.
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Jedda Nolen, resident of the town of Yarrawonga, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales, arrived in Darwin today to visit a friend.
“We’ve been friends for too long. He joined the army and left me in regional Victoria,” Ms Nolen.
“I’m expecting a full tourist trip (in Darwin).”
Ms Nolen said she had been anxiously waiting for the news that the COVID-19 hotspot on regional Victoria would be revoked.
“I booked my flight over a week ago banking on Michael Gunner letting me in,” she said.
“I said ‘if I see that man, I’ll kiss him.’
“I breathed a sigh of relief when I got on the plane.”
The COVID-19 hotspot status on regional Victoria was revoked by the NT Government at midday today.
Previous areas of concern such as Greater Geelong, East Gippsland and the Macedon Ranges have now been given the all-clear to come to the Territory.
“They are solid, they are safe,” Mr Gunner said earlier this month.
Regional Victoria currently has no active COVID-19 cases after the last two patients in Greater Shepparton recovered from the virus last week.
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Mr Gunner said he was not concerned about Victoria’s “ring of steel” easing, separating regional Victoria with the Greater Melbourne region.
However, he said if Premier Daniel Andrews does loosen the ring, he would reconsider the NT’s hotspot locations.
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