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Australian states are tightening their borders with New South Wales amid fears the coronavirus outbreak is spreading on Sydney’s northern beaches.
A meeting of the nation’s health ministers on Saturday prompted late afternoon announcements from prime ministers determined to avoid further closures.
Nick Moir / Sydney Morning Herald
Hundreds of people lined up at a Covid-19 clinic in the Sydney suburb of Mona Vale on Thursday.
Western Australian Prime Minister Mark McGowan took the stricter approach of the Australian Main Health Protection Committee meeting, reimposing a “hard” border on all New South Wales travelers.
Only those with exemptions, such as essential health and freight workers, will be allowed in after 12:01 a.m. on Sunday.
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“It has been a difficult decision to make, especially given the time of year,” McGowan said.
He said New South Wales health authorities had taken a “hit the mole” approach to the outbreak until now.
“It seems like they step into a gym here, or a restaurant there,” he said.
“This is causing pain across Australia, so they must kill the virus in New South Wales.”
Jenny Evans / Getty Images
A woman is seen setting up a pop-up Covid-19 test station at Avalon in Sydney, Australia.
The northern beaches outbreak grew from 23 cases to 40 cases on Saturday, and New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she expected at least the same number of new cases to be recorded on Sunday.
Victoria’s health authorities are expected to expand the “red zone”, which currently only covers the direct area of the Sydney peninsula where the latest virus cases have been detected.
Late on Saturday, Victoria extended its “orange zone” from the Sydney metropolitan area to include the central coast region of New South Wales after positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed.
Contact trackers have identified 70 primary close contacts of northern beach cases among travelers who arrived in Victoria between Dec. 11-17, raising concerns in the southern state.
“We remain very concerned about the outbreak in New South Wales and the likelihood that it has spread beyond the northern beaches,” said Health Minister Martin Foley.
The state marked 50 consecutive days of no local transmission of the virus and authorities are desperate to protect the hard-won gains.
Tasmanian Prime Minister Peter Gutwein announced that travelers from all areas of Sydney would have to self-quarantine for two weeks upon reaching their state.
Queensland reintroduced a border pass system starting at 1 a.m. Sunday.
All jurisdictions are telling their residents to reconsider traveling to Sydney.
Residents of the northern beaches are currently under strict orders to stay home until Wednesday.
Berejiklian said city-wide restrictions may soon apply.
Meanwhile, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, scheduled to begin on Boxing Day, has been canceled due to Tasmania’s restrictions on visitors to NSW.
