Coronavirus: Gladys Berejiklian ‘ignored border opening advice’

Gladys Berejiklian has only now announced a November 23 border opening with Victoria, despite health officials advising her three weeks ago it was safe to do so.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday announced the state’s southern border would reopen to Victoria on November 23. Picture: Getty Images

Health officials advised the NSW government three weeks ago that regional Victoria had reached sufficient standards of contact tracing and daily testing rates for COVID-19, raising questions over why authorities maintained strict border closures when ­assessments suggested restrictions could be eased.

The health advice was provided to Premier Gladys Berejiklian and senior members of her COVID-19 crisis committee during a meeting held at the State Emergency Operation Centre in early October.

Ms Berejiklian on Wednesday announced the state’s southern border would reopen to Victoria on November 23.

Despite being provided with advice suggesting easing could be facilitated, Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly said her border would not remain in place “a day longer” than necessary.

“We are very keen to see what happens in Victoria once further restrictions are eased, because that’s the real test,” Ms Berejik­lian said on October 19, about one week after the advice was ­provided.

By that time, regional Victorians were permitted to travel anywhere in their state, with the exception of Greater Melbourne.

The Australian has been told the advice praised the regional Victorian testing regime. It was provided to government officials and several department chiefs during a meeting that spent time canvassing why Queensland’s border remained shut to regional NSW residents.

“The advice was that they were happy with their (Victoria’s) improvements in regional testing rates and contact tracing,” an ­official with knowledge of the matter said.

Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly denounced the Queensland government for maintaining its border, saying there had not been a case of COVID-19 north of Newcastle since March.

Since September, the Victorian government has embarked on a campaign to significantly improve its contact tracing and quarantine arrangements for people infected with the virus. This has included sending a team of health officials to Sydney, in order to emulate the state’s success with containing the virus, and implementing digital software to simplify tracing efforts.

The 14-day average case number for regional Victoria is zero.

The Berejiklian government imposed its shutout of all Victorians in early July. It later eased restrictions to permit residents of border towns to travel more widely between the two states following efforts made by Deputy Premier John Barilaro,

In announcing on Wednesday the prospective reopening of the state’s border, Ms Berejiklian said the date of November 23 marked a fortnight following the easing of Victorian restrictions, which will allow residents of Greater Melbourne to travel widely across their state. “We believe it’s a cautious risk, a calculated risk; we’re confident our health system and the processes we have in place in NSW allow that to happen.”

Virgin Australia issued a statement in response, saying it would operate four return services to Melbourne a day from November 23. This would increase progressively as Christmas approached; services to Newcastle would be brought forward to November 24.

In the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, NSW recorded nine new cases of COVID-19, three of which were locally acquired and linked to known clusters.

Victoria recorded no cases of the virus for the fifth day running.

The decision to lift the NSW border did little to move Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who said her state’s restrictions would remain in place pending a review at the end of November.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews welcomed the announcement as an endorsement of the state’s progress on tracking and containing the virus.