Coronavirus: Despite Victoria outbreak, states set to open

The states will push on with reopening their economies and borders in July, the PM declares, despite outbreaks in Victoria.

“If you’ve come from a (coronavirus) hot spot, well, you’ll have to go into quarantine and that’s entirely reasonable,” Scott Morrison says as states and territories move ahead with reopening borders. Picture: AAP

States and territories will push ahead with reopening their economies and borders next month despite coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria, Scott Morrison has declared as he encouraged premiers to consider quarantining Australian travellers from virus hotspots.

While states will continue easing restrictions under national cabinet’s recovery plan, the Prime Minister said it was “not unreasonable” to expect international travel would be off the agenda until July next year.

International arrivals will also be forced to have two coronavirus tests at the start and end of their fortnight in hotel quarantine, in a bid to crack down on a spike in Melbourne cases linked to “leakage” from those travellers.

All states and territories except Western Australia are set to open their borders next month, with the Northern Territory confirming it would reopen on July 17 to those Australians who do not live in coronavirus hotspots.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said people from declared hotspots would be forced to quarantine for 14 days before entering the territory.

South Australia is also sticking to its plan to reopen to all Australians on July 20 — except to those in identified hotspots — and is looking at lifting restrictions for the ACT, Broken Hill and western Victoria sooner.

Tasmania took a more cautious approach, announcing a July 24 opening pending a review of coronavirus community transmission levels in Victoria and elsewhere.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said, as it stood, he would not allow free border movements with Victoria.

WA Premier Mark McGowan made no promises on Friday, saying he would “bring the border down with the east in due course when it’s the right time to do so”.

Mr Morrison implored other premiers to follow Mr Gunner’s approach.

“You have to fill out a statutory declaration going into the Northern Territory about where you’ve come from. If you’ve come from a hotspot, well, you’ll have to go into quarantine and that’s entirely reasonable,” he said.

“These are localised outbreaks. If you live in Wangaratta, as I said yesterday, or Wagga, you’re just as affected by what’s happening in the hotspots of Melbourne. To have those sort of broad-brush-type restrictions really, I don’t think, makes an enormous amount of sense.”

With one million new coronavirus cases being reported around the world every week, Mr Morrison said Australia’s performance by contrast was “remarkable” and the curve remained flat.

Analysis by The Weekend Australian shows that Friday marked the highest daily average of new coronavirus cases since April 23. Of the 26.6 new cases, 22.1 of them were in Victoria.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, who will begin his new role as Department of Health secretary next week, said the 30 per cent rate of returned overseas travellers in Melbourne who had refused a COVID-19 test was “quite high”. “Other states haven’t seen the same rate of refusal,” Dr Murphy said.

“But the states have the powers, and they’ll obviously work through locally. You have powers to say to someone, ‘well, we won’t let you out of quarantine until you’ve been tested and had a clear test’. I think most people when they understand it, and particularly we will, as you say, make sure people understand before they come, that this is a requirement. I think most people will co-operate with that arrangement.”

In a boost for small venues of 100sq m or less, like some bars and cafes, a new rule of allowing one person per 2sq m — instead of one person per 4sq m as in larger premises — will be introduced.

The country’s top health officials will also develop a roadmap for reopening arts and entertainment venues so planning can begin for the recommencement of productions.

State and federal Gold Coast Liberal National Party MPs on Friday called on the Palaszczuk government to commit to a date to open Queensland’s border to safe travellers “in order to save our theme parks, small businesses and all the Gold Coast jobs that are associated with them”.

Queensland’s coronavirus roadmap sets July 10 as the state’s ­reopening date. Mr Morrison said he had not been told that date had changed.