South Australians will need a specific exemption to return home from Victoria from 6:00pm Sunday as the COVID-19 situation deteriorates in the eastern state, SA’s Police Commissioner says.
Key points:
- South Australians wanting to enter the state from Victoria will have to apply for exemptions
- The new direction comes after Victorian authorities announced a statewide lockdown
- Residents who return to SA for home quarantine will have to display signage from SA Police at the front of their homes
It puts Victoria on par with New South Wales, where some SA residents have been stranded for weeks waiting for permission to come back.
At this stage, the 70 kilometre cross-border bubble will remain.
“That’s for this current point in time — we will obviously continue to assess the situation in Victoria as it goes,” Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
“Hopefully, we’ll see a reduction in case numbers and the lockdown arrangements in that state get on top of the current outbreak.”
The increased restrictions are in response to the Victorian government’s statewide lockdown, after positive cases were identified in regional parts of the state.
Commissioner Stevens said authorities were giving a day’s notice on the direction to prevent “excessive” queues forming at the state border.
Under the new rules, anyone who wants to travel into South Australia from Victoria will be classified as level 6 and will have to apply for exemptions to enter through SA Health.
People fleeing domestic violence will be subject to level 5 requirements, which include COVID-9 tests on days one, five and 13, 14 days of quarantine and wearing a mask at any time that they come into contact with the public for 14 days after their arrival in SA.
Commissioner Stevens said residents who had already arranged to return to SA would have to display signs on the front of their homes as they quarantined.
“However, they will be given a quarantine sign and be given a personal direction by an authorised officer to display that sign on the front of the premises they’re quarantining at for the 14-day period.”
Police will be undertaking “regular” compliance checks on people who are quarantining.
Earlier on Saturday, about 1,000 people rallied in Adelaide’s CBD against COVID-19 restrictions and proposed vaccination rules.
The peaceful protest was larger than previous gatherings and included speakers who called on the government to remove the requirement for mask-wearing, end travel restrictions and ensure vaccinations are not made mandatory.
The protest came as South Australia recorded no new COVID-19 cases.
A man who was in hospital with the disease has been released.
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