Two women are fined for flying to Melbourne from Covid-hit Sydney without a permit - before testing positive and sending all other passengers into isolation

Two women have been fined after flying from Melbourne to Sydney
Both women were placed into hotel quarantine and tested positive for Covid
Premier Dan Andrews announced a border permit for anyone travelling to Vic

Published: 06:00 BST, 12 August 2021 | Updated: 06:08 BST, 12 August 2021

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Two women who travelled together from Sydney to Melbourne without a permit while infected with coronavirus have been fined.

The women travelled on flight QF-471 on Monday about 5pm and landed in Melbourne Airport about 6.30pm without clearance for the trip.

Travel into Victoria from NSW is banned without an exemption as Sydney battles a Covid outbreak that added 345 more cases on Wednesday.

Both women were put into hotel quarantine on arrival when it was discovered they didn't have the right permits. They were fined $5,452 each.

Two women have tested positive for Covid after they flew from Sydney to Melbourne without a permit (stock image)

Two days later, they both tested positive to coronavirus during routine testing in hotel quarantine.

Victoria's Covid commander Jeroen Weimer said the unauthorised arrivals testing positive showed why Sydney was an 'extreme red zone'.

'This is why we are putting such significant barriers in place to limit all unnecessary travel between our states at this most critical time,' he said.

Mr Weimer said all passengers on the flight would be forced into 14 days of isolation and will all be tested for coronavirus.

More than 6,000 passengers were stopped at Melbourne Airport this month with 190 of those being put into hotel quarantine and 65 being returned to where they flew from.

The two women were both put into hotel quarantine and tested for Covid when they arrived in Melbourne. Their tests came back positive on Wednesday (stock image)

Mr Weimer said if those two cases had not been stopped, they could have spread it throughout the Melbourne and wider Victorian community.

When asked about checking permits before travellers leave zones, he said that it is an extreme red zone so Victoria isn't seeing many people travelling, and those that are travelling should have exemptions.

'We have worked long and hard with authorities through this pandemic, and we continue to implore and ask for support of the airlines and authorities to check in as much as they can before people get on flights.'

'We are managing risk at our end. I sympathise with colleagues interstate. They are busy as well so we will continue to manage it as we can,' he said.

'But it is frustrating when we continue to see people coming through with the wrong documentation.'

Border permits will be implemented starting from Friday to help keep track of people coming into Victoria (stock image)

This follows Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' decision to make anyone travelling over the border obtain a border permit to ensure that there is as little transmission between states as possible.

This permit will be enforced from 6pm onwards on Friday and will be available online in the afternoon of Thursday.

'It is challenging for border communities... it is so important that we continue to manage those border permit systems and have a good sense of who's coming across the border and that those testing obligations are clearly in place,' Mr Weimer said.

These two cases are part of the 23 new Covid cases announced in Victoria at today's press conference.