South Australia has abandoned its decision to open its border with Victoria to travellers from July 20 because of an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases in the eastern state.
Key points:
- Premier Steven Marshall said the decision would have a "dramatic effect" on the AFL
- He said a decision regarding New South Wales and the ACT would be made later in the week
- It comes after SA recorded three new coronavirus cases
SA Premier Steven Marshall conceded that the decision would have a "dramatic effect on the AFL" and would inconvenience travellers.
It reverses the SA Government's commitment last week for a full domestic border reopening on July 20.
But Mr Marshall said the move was to protect South Australians, because the risks posed by Victoria could not be ignored.
"We are increasingly concerned about the outbreaks that are occurring in Victoria so we are not in a position to remove our border," the Premier said today.
"Previously we had advised that this would happen on the 20th of July and I'm now advised that the transition committee's advice is that we should scrap that date.
The decision was made after a meeting of the state's transition committee earlier this morning.
"We apologise to many people who have had to make changes because of our change of the date of July 20 but our number one priority is the health, safety and welfare of all South Australians," Mr Marshall said.
The transition committee is still considering reopening the borders to the ACT and New South Wales sooner and will provide an update later this week.
South Australia has already opened its borders to Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Tasmania and Queensland.
Decision will impact the AFL
The Premier said today's decision would mean more uncertainty for the AFL season.
The Adelaide Crows were set to travel from their Gold Coast hub to play in Melbourne on July 18, before returning home for a series of matches.
But the changes mean any team travelling into South Australia from Victoria will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
Premier Marshall said the decision would have a "dramatic effect on the AFL".
"Any teams coming in from Victoria to South Australia will have to do that two weeks of isolation," he said.
"Any South Australian team that plays a Victorian team or goes to Victoria to play a Victorian team will have to do that two weeks of isolation on return to our state."
The AFL was last week forced to postpone the West Coast-Richmond game on the Gold Coast and reshuffle the weekend's fixtures after the Queensland Government tightened restrictions on teams from Victorian COVID-19 hotspots.
South Australia recorded three new cases of coronavirus yesterday — the first cases in more than a month.
All three were people repatriated from overseas and are in quarantine.
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2020-06-30 02:13:41Z
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