Coronavirus: Thousands in long wait for Victorian permits

More than 8000 stranded Victorians are still waiting for the state to process their exemption applications — some of whom have now been waiting more than a fortnight.

Kazakh tennis player Elena Rybakina arrives with other travellers at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Melbourne, on Friday. Picture: Tim Carrafa

More than 8000 stranded Victorians are still waiting for the Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services to process their exemption applications — some of whom have now been waiting more than a fortnight.

But amid anger from Victorians stuck in Sydney and Brisbane, and allegations of a double standard, given the Andrews government is providing quarantine for more than 1200 Australian Open tennis players and their entourages who have flown in from overseas, Health Minister Martin Foley on Friday said he would make “no apology for the principle of keeping Victoria safe”.

Australia recorded its second straight day with no locally ­acquired cases of coronavirus on Friday, with 18 locally acquired cases recorded in the seven days to Thursday, all but two of which have been linked to a known source of infection.

The Andrews government is maintaining its hardline stand on border restrictions, barring anyone who has been in the NSW or Queensland capitals in the past 14 days from entering Victoria without an exemption.

Since January 1 when Victoria closed the NSW border, 11,240 families and individuals have ­applied for exemptions, only 1886 of whom have received them, with four applications rejected.

There were also 1200 applications closed off as a result of ­regional NSW being reclassified as an “amber” zone, from which travel is permitted.

This means there are at least 8000 families and individuals who have applied for exemptions since January 1 and are still waiting for a verdict, with just 566 applications processed by DHHS between Wednesday and Friday.

Asked whether he understood how angry Victorians stranded in Queensland and NSW were at seeing the Andrews government allow tennis players to quarantine in Melbourne after flying in from high coronavirus-risk countries, Mr Foley said: “I understand and have great sympathy for the circumstances that many Victorians find themselves at the current time. We’re constantly working through those processes, and we’re constantly reviewing the risks associated with the red zones (in Brisbane and Sydney), and as those risks change, then we will change our advice based on public health advice.’’

Mr Foley confirmed two of the tennis players who had been headed for Melbourne had not made it onto the plane, after testing positive for coronavirus. Three-time grand slam champion Andy Murray is isolating at home near London in the hope that he may register a negative test result in time to fly to Australia and complete 14 days of compulsory isolation ahead of the tournament kicking off on February 8, while American women’s world No 16 Madison Keys has pulled the pin on the Open, having also tested positive.

Mr Foley said American star Tennys Sandgren had been ­approved to travel despite testing positive “on the basis of having had a previous infection, and his particular case being deemed as a virus shedding arrangement”.

Another set of players landed in Adelaide, where they are being quarantined under the same conditions as those in Melbourne.