Western Australia is imposing border restrictions on Victoria in response to the latest Melbourne COVID-19 outbreak, with arrivals from that state to be forced to isolate until they produce a negative result.
Key points:
- Anyone arriving from Victoria will need to be tested for COVID-19
- They will need to isolate until they return a negative test result
- People who arrived prior to 6:00pm are not being forced to isolate
From 6:00pm tonight, all arrivals from Victoria will have to be tested within 48 hours and self-quarantine until they return a negative result.
People who arrived prior to that will not be forced to isolate as things stand, unless they have visited a potential exposure site.
But Premier Mark McGowan warned stricter border controls remained a possibility, saying the situation in Victoria was "very concerning".
Mr McGowan said 18,000 people who have arrived in WA from Victoria between May 15 and May 25 would be contacted by police and provided with a list of exposure sites.
"We will monitor this over the coming hours and days to see if we need to toughen this arrangement," Mr McGowan said.
"I hope this additional testing regime is all we have to do but I will do whatever it takes to keep Western Australia safe and we won't hestiate to put in additional border controls if that is what the health advice recommends.
"If that case number grows, we may well have to go to a higher level of restrictions on Victoria."
People arriving from Victoria who are subject to the new restrictions will not be allowed to take public transport from the airport or in Perth until they have received a negative result.
They also must wear masks while they wait to get tested.
ABC News: James Carmody.
)Approach 'consistent with previous arrangements'
The decision comes as Victorian health officials scramble to contain a COVID-19 cluster, that has so far seen nine confirmed locally acquired cases.
Officials there believe the cases are linked to a man who acquired the virus in South Australian hotel quarantine but say there is a "missing link" between him and the rest of the infections.
Mr McGowan said the decision was consistent with the way WA had approached the New South Wales northern beaches COVID-19 outbreak in December, when testing requirements were introduced before rules were tightened further.
But unlike numerous other outbreaks in recent months, recent arrivals will not be forced to isolate at this stage.
ABC News: Herlyn Kaur
)That is despite Mr McGowan saying it appeared the virus had been circulating in the Victorian community since May 15.
"We received health advice on this and basically we are going to use the G2G pass system to contact [all recent arrivals] to request that if they are unwell they should get tested," the Premier said.
"This is consistent with arrangements we have put in place before."
The decision will also apply to Essendon's AFL side, which will now fly into Perth on Thursday ahead of a match against West Coast on Saturday night.
Mr McGowan said the Bombers' travelling party would need to test negative before it was allowed to leave quarantine to train or play.
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2021-05-25 08:36:43Z
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