Victoria pauses NSW, ACT red zone permits
Victoria has slammed the border shut to red zone arrivals as it spends at least another seven days in lockdown to quash the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant.
From 11.59pm on Tuesday, Victorian residents in NSW and the ACT were no longer allowed to come home amid a two-week pause on issuing red zone permits.
Only authorised workers and those who apply for and receive an exemption are now able to travel between the two states, along with border residents.
"For four weeks we've been saying to people come home because the rules may change. Well, the rules are changing today," Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Tuesday.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has also declared South Australia a red zone from 11.59pm on Wednesday as it joined Victoria as well as Sydney and surrounds in lockdown.
Victoria is beginning its sixth day of stay-home orders, which will remain in place until at least 11:59pm on July 27.
Mr Andrews said the state had avoided a "NSW-style, long, lengthy, very challenging lockdown" but authorities needed more time to "extinguish" the outbreak.
"We're dealing with an outbreak that we think we are running alongside and we just need to get in front of it in order to pull it up," he said.
He added easing restrictions while new case numbers are in the single digits isn't an option, due to the speed and ease with which the Delta variant has spread.
Victoria recorded 13 local COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, bringing the total number of infections in the outbreak to 85.
The only unlinked case involves a woman in her 20s from Roxburgh Park, though authorities believe it is connected to a City of Hume family who tested positive after returning from NSW earlier this month.
Professor Sutton said about a third of the state's close contacts are in regional Victoria, making it likely the lockdown will remain statewide.
There are now more than 340 exposure sites, spanning from Phillip Island in the south of the state to Mildura in the northwest.
Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed Victorians impacted by the extended lockdown will be able to claim disaster payments of up to $600 a week from Friday.
A beefed-up support package for lockdown-hit businesses will also be announced by the Victorian government on Wednesday.
A full list of Victorian exposure sites can be found at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites
