Coronavirus: Western Australia again closes its border to Victorians

The WA government has again closed its border to Vic­torians and forced up to 16,000 people into self-quarantine as a precaution.

WA Acting Premier Roger Cook. Picture: AAP

The West Australian government has again closed its border to Vic­torians and forced up to 16,000 people into self-quarantine as a precaution.

WA was on Thursday contacting anyone who had been in Victoria on or after December 21 and who had since arrived in WA to tell them not to go out for New Year’s Eve celebrations. They must immediately self-quarantine. The government’s own system for incoming arrivals indicated more than 16,000 people had arrived in WA from Victoria in the previous 10 days. While some have since returned, those remaining were required to isolate and submit to a coronavirus test on their 11th day in WA. Their isolation would end 14 days after they got to WA.

From 12.01am on Friday, anyone in Victoria who wanted to come to WA — even if they had flights booked — would be turned back unless they had an exemption.

WA Acting Premier Roger Cook made the announcement less than two months since the state reopened to Victoria. It was a direct response to the discovery of cases of community transmission in Victoria two days in a row.

“The timing is terrible but COVID-19 doesn’t respect dates or celebrations,” Mr Cook said.

The government promised to deal compassionately with WA residents who were stranded in Victoria by the border closure, which came into effect a little over 12 hours after it was announced. Mr Cook said those people would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

WA’s tough border regime has coincided with almost nine months without a case of community transmission. One of the most frightening moments for health authorities came in April when seven doctors, nurses and hospital staff tested positive to coronavirus in the remote Kimberley, where half the population is Aboriginal and highly susceptible. A Halls Creek doctor ­treated an Aboriginal patient while contagious but did not pass on the virus.

Early in the pandemic, Premier Mark McGowan’s approval rating soared as West Australians experienced relative freedom and less economic carnage than the rest of Australia. As he prepares for the March state election, he has repeatedly credited border measures with keeping WA safe.

More recently, the McGowan government has come under pressure from business to manage risk, including by declaring hotspots rather than banning travel to and from entire states. Currently WA is closed to NSW and Victoria. Between April and November it was closed to all states and territories. In October Human Rights Watch slammed the McGowan government’s borders regime as harsh.