Victoria is allowing quarantine-free travel from all areas of NSW, with the elimination of “red zone” virus restrictions.
Red zones will be eliminated from 6pm AEDT on Friday, with the area of Cumberland downgraded from a red zone to the only remaining orange zone.
According to Victoria’s traffic-light system of travel restrictions, anyone travelling from Cumberland will have to self-isolate and get tested within 72 hours of arrival, remaining in isolation until they get a negative result.
All other parts of NSW will be designated green, which only requires travellers to get tested if they become symptomatic.
Premier Daniel Andrews said people travelling from the Cumberland area should still get tested.
“We’re extremely happy to see the last red zone in NSW be downgraded,” he said.
Victoria closed its borders to NSW on new year’s day after virus outbreaks in Sydney, causing traffic chaos on Victoria’s borders as holiday makers rushed home.
But Victoria has now reached 23 days with no new local coronavirus cases, and 27 cases confined to hotel quarantine, including one new case on Friday.
The easing of border restrictions will mean Victoria Police can start scaling back their duties on the NSW border.
Several hundred Victoria police have been on border duty, leading to debate about whether they are being spread too thinly, and Thursday’s Bourke Street driver incident heightened those concerns.
But Police Minister Lisa Neville and Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said police numbers in the Melbourne CBD had been unaffected, also noting the incident was sparked by a number plate check.
“I’m very happy that our standing footprint to cover the city is sufficient,” Mr Cornelius said.
“But look … the COVID emergency and the threats posed by COVID to public health and community safety is in fact our priority.”
Ms Neville said more than 800 police were involved in hotel quarantine and that would increase to more than 1000.
She said the state government was seeking more Australian Defence Force help with the quarantine program.
Also on Friday, Ms Neville was unapologetic about some Australian Open personnel having to wait more than 14 days to be freed from hotel quarantine.
Players and support staff started leaving quarantine on Thursday night, with the last expected out by midday on Sunday.
But some are unhappy their quarantine is lasting 15 days.
“We consider day one (to be) day zero, so in a sense it does end up being a bit more than 14 days,” Ms Neville told 3AW radio.
“There have been very rare cases on day 14.
“They’re known exactly when they’re about to come out. I accept they’d love to get out, but we’re not taking any chances on that and we’ve been very clear about it.
“I will be relaxed when we get past the last person leaving hotel quarantine from the Australian Open.”
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