Coronavirus: Borders open for Greater Sydney as Gladys Berejiklian hits out

Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania have all moved to ease travel restrictions with NSW.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Richard Dobson

Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania have all moved to ease travel restrictions with NSW, as Australia reached 12 days with no locally acquired coronavirus cases on Friday.

The decisions came as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian lashed out at her Queensland counterpart Annastacia Palaszczuk, responding to Ms Palaszczuk’s plea for the federal government to extend JobKeeper for tourism businesses by ­accusing her of being a “victim of a policy she put in place herself”.

“When you unnecessarily close state borders you lose jobs, you create hardship, you impact people’s mental health and wellbeing,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“There is nowhere in the state that is a hot spot and, even if there was, why should people from other parts of the state be prevented from moving freely?”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the state would finally move to downgrade Sydney’s Cumberland local government area from a red zone from 6pm on Friday. The LGA will become an orange zone, allowing anyone who has been there in the past 14 days to enter Victoria, as long as they apply for a permit and isolate until they receive a negative coronavirus test result on arrival in the state.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said health authorities would continue to monitor the sole remaining orange zone and “downgrade it as soon as it’s safe”.

The easing of restrictions came as the Andrews government confirmed Victoria‘s state of emergency would be extended to February 26 “as there remains a serious risk to public health from the coronavirus”.

Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Friday that coronavirus fragments had been detected in sewage samples taken in Gisborne, Hamilton and ­Leongatha. The state has had 23 consecutive days with no new ­locally acquired cases.

Meanwhile in Queensland, NSW border checkpoints are to be taken down from 1am on Monday. Anyone who has been in Greater Sydney in the past 14 days will not be allowed into Queensland until 1am on Monday, but after that time interstate travellers in hotel quarantine in the state will be permitted to leave, regardless of whether they have completed 14 days.

Tasmania will allow unrestricted travel from NSW from Sunday, while Sydneysiders will be allowed to travel to South Australia for the first time in 2021, although they will be required to complete a Cross Border Travel Registration.

The ACT lifted all travel restrictions between Canberra and Sydney at 3pm on Friday.

The Northern Territory is yet to lift hotspot declarations for nine NSW local government areas, meaning people who have been in those locations in the past 14 days must quarantine on entry to the Territory. WA requires anyone travelling from NSW, Queensland or Victoria to quarantine for 14 days.