SYDNEY (Reuters) – The border between Australia’s two most populous states will be closed for an indefinite period from Tuesday as authorities rush to contain an outbreak of the coronavirus in the city of Melbourne.
People wearing face masks practice social distancing while waiting to enter an Apple store on the first day of restrictions on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, July 1, 2020. REUTERS / Loren Elliott
The decision announced Monday marks the first time that the border between Victoria and New South Wales has been closed in 100 years. Officials last blocked movement between the two states in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic.
“It is the smart call, the right call at the moment, given the significant challenges we face in containing this virus,” Victoria Prime Minister Daniel Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.
However, the move will likely be a blow to Australia’s economic recovery as it heads for its first recession in nearly three decades.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the Victorian capital of Melbourne has increased in recent days, prompting authorities to enforce strict social distancing orders in 30 suburbs and to put nine public housing towers in complete closure.
The state reported 127 new COVID-19 infections overnight, its biggest one-day increase since the pandemic began. It also reported two deaths, the first nationwide in more than two weeks, bringing the national count to 106.
New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said there was no timetable to reopen the border, which will be patrolled by the military to prevent illegal crossings from 11:59 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
The state line is very porous, with 55 roads, natural parks, and rivers. Some companies are located on both sides and several workers, and schoolchildren, commute daily.
Lyn McKenzie, who runs a paddle steamer business along the Murray River from Mildura, a border town of 30,000 people, is waiting for more details to assess the full impact on her business.
McKenzie lives on the NSW side of the river, ships pick up passengers on the Victoria side, and the river itself is classified as part of NSW.
“I see that it may have to close again, but it’s a bit early for me, without knowing the exact details,” McKenzie told Reuters.
Berejiklian said people could apply for daily permits to cross the border, but added that there will be delays of around three days to issue the passes.
Paul Armstrong, who runs a gas station in Wodonga, a border town on the Victorian side, said his children live in New South Wales but go to school in Victoria.
“I wonder if they will need permits,” Armstrong said. Schools in Victoria are in their second week of the two-week winter break. Schools in New South Wales began their two-week break on Monday.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the military would provide 24-hour surveillance and aerial surveillance to enforce the shutdown. Victoria’s only other internal border, with the state of South Australia, has been closed since March 22 under previous coronavirus measures.
MELBOURNE LOCK
Australia has fared better than many countries in the coronavirus pandemic, with just 8,500 cases so far, but the Melbourne outbreak has raised the alarm.
The country has reported an average of 109 cases daily in the past week, compared to an average of only 9 cases daily in the first week of June.
Melbourne locals worry that the renewed social distancing measures have not been uniformly implemented across the city.
“Without a complete closure of Melbourne, I am not quite sure this will be contained,” Jack Bell, a lifeguard living in the Victorian suburb of Kensington, told Reuters.
Kensington is one of 30 suburbs that have again imposed measures of social distancing. The nine blocks of public housing that have been the subject of a total blockade, the first in Australia, are located in neighboring North Melbourne and Flemington.
Reports by Byron Kaye, Swati Pandey, Colin Packham, Renju Jose and Sonali Paul; editing by Jane Wardell
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