Victoria recorded four new local cases of COVID-19 on Monday after national cabinet agreed to review COVID-19 protocols for truck drivers to ensure freight workers do not reintroduce the virus into the state.
All four cases are linked to the current outbreaks and have been in quarantine throughout their entire infectious period, the Department of Health confirmed on Twitter.
Authorities received 22,217 test results and 16,591 doses of vaccine were administered across the state. Victorian health authorities listed no new exposure sites overnight.
The Prime Minister and state premiers last week sanctioned federal and state transport ministers to determine improvements to the permit and testing requirements for cross-border truck drivers that vary for each state.
The ministers will consider a proposal from state transport associations to allow drivers to use rapid antigen test home kits and a national QR code check-in system that would allow truckies to scan into states instead of applying for permits.
The review comes after new measures were announced on Monday preventing NSW residents within the border bubble from entering Victoria other than for essential reasons like care-giving and exercise.
Health Minister Martin Foley said under the current border bubble rules, people could theoretically have travelled from a NSW border town to Melbourne or Lorne. “I would have thought that Victorians would have been a little bit surprised [by that],” he said.
From Wednesday, travellers in the bubble will only be able to cross the Murray River without a permit to access necessary goods and services, care reasons, work and education, vaccination and exercise.
Mr Foley said the changes applied for both NSW and Victorian residents.
“The outbreak in NSW continues to grow, and with projections and modelling suggesting that the position in New South Wales is likely to get worse before it gets better, it’s prudent that Victoria takes measures to make sure that the border bubble operates as safely as we possibly can,” he said.
“We really don’t make these changes lightly.”
Fines for those who cross the border into Victoria for unnecessary reasons are up to $5452.
With Ashleigh McMillan
More to come
David Estcourt is a court and general news reporter at The Age.
Paul is a Victorian political reporter for The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMioQFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3ZpY3RvcmlhLXJlY29yZHMtZm91ci1uZXctY2FzZXMtYXMtbmF0aW9uYWwtY2FiaW5ldC1yZXZpZXdzLWNvdmlkLTE5LXByb3RvY29scy1mb3ItdHJ1Y2stZHJpdmVycy0yMDIxMDgwMy1wNThmYXEuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5
2021-08-02 22:28:09Z
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