Other states are expected to take an “overly cautious” approach to reopening their borders to Victorians, as they desperately seek to avoid their own second wave of the virus.
Experts in NSW and Queensland said it was expected governments would demand that Victoria record a number of weeks of zero cases, or a longer period where there were only a very low number of contained cases.
The NSW border could open next month.,Credit:Getty
“Those states that do not have the disease are desperate not to have it,” said former Queensland chief health officer Gerry FitzGerald.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian this week warned that Victoria's slow take-up of QR code technology would delay the opening of the border. In a text message exchange with Premier Daniel Andrews on Friday morning, she indicated it would remain shut until late November at the earliest.
On Thursday, Ms Berejiklian said she was unwilling to gamble NSW and the nation’s economy by opening up too quickly.
"I don’t want to see the border up a day longer than it needs to be, but we also need to be sensible, we need to see Victoria demonstrate they have the capacity to get on top of any outbreaks, because there will be," Ms Berejiklian said.
Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian in March 2018.Credit:Nick Moir
The NSW government app verifies people’s identity using their Service NSW account, which keeps their phone number and email, helping to counter a problem with people providing false or ineligible information while checking into restaurants and other businesses.
The Victorian government is also developing a QR code system for venues to record visitors' details for contact tracing. Mr Andrews said on Friday that process was under way but "it's a little bit more complex than people think".
"People have to have confidence that it's going to work and confidence that it's only there for the purposes of public health," the Premier said.
"And I would just note this again, this is no way a criticism, it's just a fact, NSW have only just moved to the current final instalment of their QR product, in fact they are in the process of doing it now. We will get there. I expect at the same point in that opening-up journey, we will absolutely have the product out there and working very, very well."
Four new cases of coronavirus were announced in Victoria on Friday. Two are under investigation and may eventually be reclassified, after the patients returned initial low positives followed by negative results.
There are now 80 active cases in Victoria and a rolling 14-day average in Melbourne of just 2.6.
With numbers low, the Premier announced on Friday that after 120 consecutive days of fronting the media, he would not be holding a press conference on Saturday.
Mr Andrews, who has spoken to the media every day since July 3, told reporters that he would be stepping away from the dais for a day.
"I will not see you tomorrow, the Minister for Health will conduct the daily briefing," he said. "I'm sure you're all very pleased to hear that."
Professor Raina MacIntyre, an emerging infectious diseases expert from the University of New South Wales, said while it remained unclear how effective reforms in Victoria had been, states would be taking a cautious approach when it came to welcoming back Victorians.
“In the end, each state premier has to answer to the people in that state and that’s where that caution is coming into play.”
Professor MacIntyre said she would like to see Victoria record zero cases of coronavirus within the community for “several weeks” before NSW opened it’s borders, “especially as we’re going into Christmas and new year which is a very high-risk period”.
Leading NSW epidemiologist, Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, was less cautious saying she would have confidence for the NSW government to open the border if Victoria's rolling 14-day average remained below five for two weeks.
“In another nine days, if it continues to consistently be in the green zone, there will be no reason why we can’t lift the border restrictions,” she said.
From November 3, Queensland will open its borders to parts of regional NSW where there had been no coronavirus cases for 28 days, but the border remains shut to Victorians and Sydneysiders.
Professor FitzGerald, a disaster management expert, said Queenslanders had been watching Victorian case numbers with interest and were aware of the handful of “surprise cases” – those with an unknown source – still emerging.
There have been two cases with an unknown source reported in the past two weeks in Melbourne.
“Up in Queensland, I can’t find too many people who think we should open the borders,” he said.
Professor FitzGerald said this ultra-cautious strategy could result in a requirement for Victoria to report at least 28 days where they had no high-risk cases identified, including mystery cases and cases where people hadn’t been isolating before testing positive.
Aisha Dow reports on health for The Age and is a former city reporter.
Michael is a state political reporter for The Age.
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2020-10-30 08:52:00Z
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