Authorities have issued a dire warning to any Victorians currently in NSW, telling them to “get out now” as the situation continues to escalate.
It comes as authorities closely monitor an emerging situation in which a Tasmanian resident travelled through Melbourne to the UK, before later testing positive to the virus.
With police checks ramping up along the border, Victorian Covid-19 head Jeroen Weimar said authorities were extremely concerned about the spread of the virus in the neighbouring state.
NSW recorded 50 new cases on Saturday, while Victoria reported its tenth day without a locally acquired case.
“The NSW position remains extremely volatile and very high risk and we are exceptionally concerned of the spread of the virus,” Mr Weimar said on Saturday.
“If you’re a Victorian who wants to be in Victoria, you should have left already because the situation continues to evolve very rapidly.”
Victoria has gone 10 days without any local cases after an outbreak of the Delta variant of the virus shut down Melbourne for part of last month.
While the state has not enforced a hard border with all of NSW, Mr Weimar said they were assessing the situation “hour by hour”.
“We are exceptionally concerned about the NSW situation,” he said.
“I would not be surprised if we were in a position where we felt we had to extend the red zone beyond the Sydney area, but please - if you’re a Victorian who needs to be back, you should leave now.”
Meanwhile, authorities are also monitoring a new situation concerning a Tasmanian resident who flew through Melbourne and later tested positive for Covid-19 after landing in the UK.
The person travelled on QF1542 departing Launceston at 10.15am on July 2, flying into Melbourne.
The person tested positive more than 72 hours after leaving Melbourne, and 61 passengers on that flight have been told by authorities to isolate and get a test.
Mr Weimar said the person spent four hours in Melbourne but remained positive.
“It is an exceptionally long shot, out of abundance of caution we’ve decided to take that precautionary stance,” Mr Weimar said.
“We’re wanting to run that into the ground.”
The Victorian government eased coronavirus restrictions on Friday to allow bigger crowds at sporting and entertainment events and a slight relaxing of mask rules.
Health Minister Martin Foley said the state was in a “stable position” but urged Victorians not to become complacent.
“With the slower than forecast rollout of the Commonwealth vaccination program, reduction in returning traveller caps not yet in effect across the country and outbreaks interstate continuing to pose a risk to Victoria, the advice from our public health experts is that we ease those restrictions carefully and cautiously,” he said.
The easing of restrictions across Melbourne brings the city into line with the rules across regional Victoria.
From 11.59pm Saturday there will also be some changes to Victoria’s travel rules for other Australian states and territories.
All of the Northern Territory has been changed to a green zone, after Alice Springs and Darwin were formerly considered orange zones.
In Queensland, some areas changed from orange to green. Those places are Townsville, Palm Island, Ipswich, Logan, Redland, Gold Coast, Lockyer Valley, Noosa, Scenic Rim and Somerset.
Other parts of Queensland changed from red to orange, namely Brisbane, Moreton Bay and parts of the Sunshine Coast.
And all of Western Australia is now considered a green zone after Perth and Peel changed from orange.
Greater Sydney, meanwhile, remains a red zone, while the rest of NSW and the ACT are orange.
Anyone arriving in Victoria must have a permit, even if it’s from a green zone.
People arriving from an orange zone must isolate on arrival, get tested within 72 hours, and stay isolated until a negative result comes back.
People in red zones who are not Victorian residents cannot enter the state unless granted an exemption.
Residents can return but must go straight home, self-quarantine for a fortnight, get tested after 72 hours and again after 13 days.
The state’s acting chief health officer has advised strongly against non-essential travel to red or orange zones.
rhiannon.tuffield@news.com.au
Victoria records no local coronavirus cases for 10 days in a row - NEWS.com.au
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