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Victoria (TIE) : Victorians in New South Wales have been urged to come home as soon as possible as the threat of a complete border closure between the states looms.
Case numbers continue to soar in Sydney, jumping by 77 in 24 hours, with one death recorded as the Delta variant runs wild.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he would not hesitate to make all of NSW a hotspot if that was the advice of health experts, with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee meeting later on Sunday.
“We can act as the state of Victoria based on our advice from our CHO (chief health officer) and others but it is always best if we get a nationally consistent approach,” the Premier told reporters.
“I’m not being critical of those Victorians who are in New South Wales but if you’re there, get back and get back quickly.
“You’ve been warned about the circumstances changing and that is exactly what may well occur in the next hours.”
Any Victorian residents who return from the greater Sydney red zone, including the central coast, Blue Mountains, Shellharbour and Wollongong, must obtain a permit to re-enter the state, travel home directly and quarantine for 14 days.
Mr Andrews said Victorians knew all too well the pain Sydney was going through trying to bring the fresh wave of infections under control, as he repeatedly suggested anyone who tried to break the border rules faced the very real prospect of being publicly shamed.
“We’ve lived it – we’ve been there,” he said.
“But it also means that we have, I think, an extra determination to play our part to get tested, to not have outbreaks, to not have this run here.
“For those travelling across the border, the permits are real, the conditions are real. You will be fined, you will be found and you’ve got every chance of becoming very famous if you do not comply with those permit conditions.
“No one, I would have thought, wants to contribute to this virus coming to Victoria.
