The Victorian government has warned South Australians to reconsider any travel to Victoria as South Australian authorities anticipate at least 14 new cases will be announced today.
The request comes as Victoria recorded its 19th day without a new COVID-19 case or coronavirus-related death.
Truck drivers entering Victoria from its western border will be requested to undergo testing on the Victorian side of the border from Thursday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley announced after a cluster in Adelaide's northern suburbs grew to 21 cases on Tuesday.
But Mr Foley has conceded there was "absolutely nothing" stopping SA drivers from entering Victoria without health screening, despite those checks being mandatory for all air arrivals.
"Not at the moment because the risk criteria says that that's not necessary," Mr Foley told radio station 3AW on Wednesday morning. "These things are a lot more manageable at airports."
"We are very much relying on South Australia's good will."
Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Alan Cheng said all air travellers from South Australia who had been tested on Monday had received negative results, and that there had been no travellers who had visited high risk locations who would be required to quarantine for 14 days.
Two flights carrying 122 passengers arrived at Tullamarine airport from Adelaide on Monday. Authorities at the time said they tested 81 of those people. No flights arrived at Melbourne or Mildura on Tuesday. Two flights are expected on Wednesday afternoon.
There was minimal traffic coming into Victoria because South Australians would still be required to quarantine for two weeks when they arrived home again, Professor Cheng said.
"Most of the traffic across the border is border communities… [so] we put resources where there is the greatest risk."
It has also emerged that the Adelaide cluster was only detected after a doctor insisted a patient get tested.
"In South Australia, we did get lucky," Australian Medical Association vice-president Chris Moy told the Today show.
"The reason why the virus was picked up was because of the conscientious nature of a doctor who insisted a patient get tested. We might have got extremely lucky despite the top-notch response."
A testing site for truck drivers travelling between Victoria and South Australia will begin operating at Nhill on the Western Highway on Thursday. More locations will open along other major interstate routes, according to the Health Department.
South Australian police still operate the South Australia-Victoria border post near Nelson. Credit:Tony Wright
The South Australian outbreak has caused Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory to close their borders to SA travellers – requiring any inbound passengers to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.
But Victoria, along with NSW and the ACT, is keeping borders open and is only screening South Australian passengers at airports.
Mr Foley said South Australians should only enter Victoria for the most critical issues such as medical or funeral purposes.
"The exception to this of course is the border communities where we'll continue the bubble that is in place between the Victorian and South Australian small regional border towns," he told Nine's Today program.
Current border "bubble" arrangements allow South Australian residents to travel to Victoria for any reason anywhere within a 70 kilometre cross-border corridor.
Screening at airports entails taking names and contact details of SA travellers, an interview about where they have been and temperature and symptom checks. Only certain passengers are being required to be tested and quarantine.
"People in South Australia who have been at a high-risk location are required to quarantine, and the South Australian border is closed to most travellers from Victoria," said Professor Cheng on Tuesday.
"We are also putting in place a range of other measures, including screening arrivals at Melbourne Airport, alerting aged care facilities and hospitals and continuing wastewater testing in western Victoria."
Announcing Victoria's 19th consecutive "doughnut day" on Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services said the state processed more than 17,000 tests the previous day. The number of tests was close to that registered on Monday.
Mr Foley said it was "pretty much correct" to assume rules on outdoor mask-wearing would be eased as part of Victorian coronavirus restriction announcements on Sunday.
But he highlighted the important role of masks, pointing to the recent outbreak in Adelaide where masks have not been mandatory.
"Just think about what the situation had have been in Adelaide over the past week if they’d had [mandatory] masks," he said.
There still remains three active cases in Victoria, two of which were still in hospital as of Tuesday.
Public health officials have explained the long active period for the remaining three cases as being attributed to people who may be immunocompromised or still have symptoms beyond the 10 day isolation period.
People recover from COVID at different rates, according to the Department of Health.
Rachael Dexter is a breaking news reporter at The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihwFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3ZpY3RvcmlhLXJlY29yZHMtbm8tY2FzZXMtb3ItZGVhdGhzLWZvci0xOXRoLWRheS10ZXN0cy1mb3Itc2EtdHJ1Y2tpZXMtMjAyMDExMTgtcDU2Zmo0Lmh0bWzSAYcBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAudGhlYWdlLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC92aWN0b3JpYS92aWN0b3JpYS1yZWNvcmRzLW5vLWNhc2VzLW9yLWRlYXRocy1mb3ItMTl0aC1kYXktdGVzdHMtZm9yLXNhLXRydWNraWVzLTIwMjAxMTE4LXA1NmZqNC5odG1s?oc=5
2020-11-17 23:35:00Z
52781189150483
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "'Absolutely nothing' stopping SA drivers from entering Victoria: Health Minister - The Age"
Post a Comment