NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told people to avoid travel to and from border communities, flagging further restrictions could be placed on border towns as well as the rest of NSW as Victoria's coronavirus caseload increases.
The changes to NSW's coronavirus restrictions as a whole, to be announced on Thursday morning, "would not be anything major", Ms Berejiklian said on Wednesday, "but we are considering tweaking some health orders in NSW to ensure additional safety in relation to some types of gatherings".
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses the media on Wednesday flanked by Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant and Police Commissioner Mick Fuller.Credit:James Alcock
Furthermore, the Premier said the government was considering making hotel quarantine mandatory for NSW residents returning from Victoria, which residents would have to pay for themselves.
"We understand that, due to financial hardship or other reasons, people have made arrangements to get back to their family or get back to their place of work. We understand that. But that tolerance pretty much finishes once there's been sufficient time for people to make those adjustments."
It came as Ms Berejiklian said the probability of COVID-19 spreading from Victoria to NSW was "extremely high" and as she pleaded with people in border communities not to travel to other parts of NSW.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said eight new COVID cases had been identified in the past 24 hours, seven of whom were returned travellers. The eighth case is a woman in her 30s in south-west Sydney.
Dr Chant said further investigations were under way to determine whether her infection was recent or a historical one. Close contacts of the woman, including some health staff at Liverpool Hospital, were in isolation.
Dr Chant said a Victorian teenager and his family were also isolating in Merimbula, on the NSW South Coast, after the boy was informed by Victorian health authorities that a negative coronavirus test he received was, in fact, incorrect.
"The child and his family were not from a hotspot in Melbourne," Dr Chant said.
She said the only contact the family had since arriving in NSW on July 4 was visiting the Tathra Hotel. The hotel had kept a list of the 80 patrons present at the time of the child's visit and they are being contacted.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Wednesday that his state had recorded 134 new cases of coronavirus in the past day. Of those cases, only 11 were connected to contained outbreaks while the source of infection for 123 remained under investigation.
Ms Berejiklian said border communities were "on notice" and the government would consider implementing a second border checkpoint north of Albury or tightening the permit system if current border controls proved too high-risk.
"If we find that the bubble we have created on the border doesn't work and we feel it's too high-risk, we will definitely need to take further action," she said.
"Do not travel to other parts of NSW unless you absolutely have to.
"If you are an Albury resident, we do not recommend you travel to other parts of NSW, and if we feel in the next few days – or as early as tomorrow – that we need to further protect the community, we will consider what we do, north of Albury."
One option that might be considered in coming days was to stop movement altogether between border communities such as Albury-Wodonga, Ms Berejiklian said.
Police have processed more than 50,000 permits since the Victorian-NSW border closed at midnight on Tuesday, the Premier said. The government was monitoring the situation every few hours and was prepared to restrict movement around the border further if necessary, she added.
"Whilst we have allowed these permits, whilst we have allowed a degree of flexibility, do not assume this will continue," Ms Berejiklian said
The Premier also renewed the government's warning to businesses that they must abide by public health orders or risk a fine of up to $55,000.
"We will be stepping up compliance in relation to businesses across the state," Ms Berejiklian said, noting that only 10 per cent of the state's businesses had registered as "COVIDSafe".
"[We are] concerned with the lack of compliance in NSW in some hospitality venues in particular cafes and restaurants, basic things like sharing a salt and pepper shaker."
After borders closed at midnight on Tuesday, vehicles were backed up for several kilometres at border crossings in Victoria on Wednesday morning, as police and Defence Force officers enforced permits at checkpoints across the 1000-kilometre border.
In guidelines published on its website, Service NSW said adults and children entering NSW from the south would need an entry permit unless they were "an emergency or law enforcement services worker" or "entering NSW to avoid injury or escape a risk of harm".
with Mary Ward
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Lisa Visentin is a state political reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-07-08 02:13:11Z
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