South Australia to open its borders to all Sydney residents from Sunday – but you won’t be able to holiday across the border without a test
- South Australia will lift border restrictions for people from Greater Sydney
- New South Wales has gone 11 consecutive days with no community transmission
- SA said travellers won’t have to undergo mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival
- But arrivals must have a Covid-19 test on days one, five and 12 to ensure safety
South Australia will lift the Covid-19 border restrictions for travellers from the Greater Sydney area from Sunday as the state zeroes in on a ‘baseline’ level of local virus measures.
Travellers will not be required to quarantine but must have a coronavirus test on days one, five and 12.
They must also isolate until they receive a negative result from the day one test.
New South Wales has gone 11 consecutive days with no community transmission on Thursday.
Passengers wearing face masks check in for a Qantas Boeing 737-800, flight number QF735 from Sydney to Adelaide at Sydney Airport on September 24, 2020
The South Australian border sign is seen near the SA border 5kms east of Pinnaroo, South Australia
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the change could be reviewed if any new cases emerged in Sydney during the next two days.
But he said he was confident it would reach SA’s threshold of 14 days without community transmission.
NSW reported no new cases again on Thursday, for the 11th day in a row.
‘This is the most reasonable step we can put in place that allows that freedom of movement between NSW and South Australia,’ he said.
‘We’re trying to find that middle ground where we’re protecting South Australians but enabling as much travel as possible between states and territories.
‘This is a good step forward.’
Mr Stevens said SA would also remove the requirement for Sydney travellers to get tested as soon as possible.
At that point, the freedom of movement between SA and other states was likely to be at its highest since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.
Health authorities are seen testing people in cars at Victoria Park Covid testing centre on November 17, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia
The measures in place until Sunday prevent people from Greater Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong from entering SA and have been in place since the Covid-19 outbreak in the city’s northern beaches area.
No other restrictions are in place for travellers from any other states or territories.
The commissioner said South Australia was also ‘really close’ to reaching a point where local restrictions would remain for the foreseeable future.
‘I don’t know if we’re going to see too many more changes in relation to what we can free up while at the same time managing Covid if it does come into South Australia,’ he said.
‘We’ll continue to revisit that and we’re looking at what a baseline level of restrictions and activity might look like and formalising that so everyone has a clear understanding of what that is.’
South Australian Police stopping vehicles near the SA border 5kms east of Pinnaroo, South Australia, Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Mr Stevens said police were also providing advice to the government on when the state’s major emergency declaration could be revoked.
But he said under the current rules it was needed to enforce existing measures, including the use of masks, QR codes and the requirement for virus testing.
SA reported no new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and has no active infections.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Mike Cusack said the state had now gone seven days with no new cases, either in the community or in hotel quarantine.
But he urged anyone with even the mildest of symptoms to get checked, describing a recent fall in testing numbers as ’cause for anxiety’ among health officials.