People from NSW and Victoria will be allowed to travel to Western Australia from next Tuesday without completing 14 days of self-quarantine, Premier Mark McGowan has announced.
Speaking at Perth Airport on Tuesday morning, Mr McGowan said advice from his public health team was that, as NSW looks to join Victoria in recording 28 days without a coronavirus case, the states will join other Australian states in being categorised as "very low risk".
"I would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding, not just in recent weeks but over the course of the pandemic," Mr McGowan said.
Arrivals will need to agree to several conditions, including a health screening on arrival as well as taking a COVID test if deemed necessary by a health clinician.
The new rules will come into force at 12.01am on Tuesday, December 8. They leave South Australia as the sole place in Australia unable to travel to Western Australia.
Mr McGowan said people driving from NSW or Victoria would need to be aware they can not travel through South Australia if they wish to enter Western Australia without a relevant exemption.
The Premier acknowledged the impact of the "uniquely Western Australian" hard border closure, which has been in place since March 24. He said the closure had prevented him from seeing his own parents in NSW but believed it had been worthwhile despite criticism from "over east".
"It has worked: as of today, WA has gone 233 days without a coronavirus case in the community," he said.
NSW reported its 24th consecutive day without a local coronavirus case on Tuesday.
There were five new cases recorded in hotel quarantine in the 24 hours to 8pm Monday, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4393.
Western Australia recorded three new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, all in hotel quarantine.
There were happy scenes at Brisbane Airport early on Tuesday morning, after the Queensland border reopened to residents of Sydney and Victoria.
Sydneysiders have been locked out of the sunshine state for more than three months, after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk shut the borders again in August in response to a resurgence in case numbers in the city's south-west. For Victorians, the Queensland border had not reopened since the start of the pandemic.
Brisbane mother Natalie Auchterlonie, who was fighting back tears and clutching a handful of balloons, said her 29-year-old daughter Katherine was flying in from Melbourne to spend just 24 hours with her.
"I was crying in the parking lot and I know she's going to be super embarrassed but I don't care," she said.
Graham and Natalie Auchterlonie welcome their daughter Katherine. Credit:Tertius Pickard
"It's been 299 days, not that I'm counting. She's only here for 24 hours because of work but we don't care, we just want to see her."
A number of restrictions in NSW eased on Tuesday. Households can now host 50 people, provided an outdoor area is used, and small venues may use a two-square-metre rule to determine their COVID-safe capacity.
with Jocelyn Garcia
Mary Ward is a health reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-12-01 00:35:00Z
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