NT borders to remain closed to whole of Melbourne past July 17, Gunner announces

VICTORIANS living in the greater Melbourne area will not be able to freely visit the NT when it opens its borders on July 17, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced, with any arrivals from the area to be forced to undertake 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine at their own cost.

Victorians living in the greater Melbourne area will not be able to freely visit the NT when it opens its borders on July 17, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced. Picture: Che Chorley

VICTORIANS living in the greater Melbourne area will not be able to freely visit the NT when it opens its borders on July 17 following a spike in coronavirus cases in the southern state, Chief Minister Michael Gunner has announced tonight.

Melbourne has been designated as a hotspot in its entirety, meaning anyone who lives there or has visited the area will not be granted free access to the Territory.

Any arrivals from the area into the NT will be forced to undertake 14 days of mandatory supervised quarantine, most likely at the Howard Springs facility, at their own cost.

“These rules applies to everyone, not just Victorians. That includes Territorians. Territorians should reconsider any planned travel to any location in Melbourne in the near future,” Mr Gunner said.

“Right now, the problem is confined to Melbourne, but we will keep a watching brief on the rest of Victoria.

“Hotspot areas may be added prior to 17 July, depending on the health advice.

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“However, I want to make clear that no area in the greater Melbourne region will be removed from the list prior to 17 July. They will stay shut off from the Territory until further notice.

“This gives interstate travellers certainty about our rules.”

It comes as Victoria experiences a spike in COVID-19 cases, forcing a number of postcodes in Melbourne into lockdown in recent days.

Today there were 127 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Victoria.

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Mr Gunner’s announcement comes after New South Wales announced today that Victorians will not be allowed to travel into the state.

However, the NSW border will be completely closed to the entire state of Victoria.