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Coronavirus crisis: WA slams shut border to COVID-embattled Victoria

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Josh ZimmermanThe West Australian
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Mark McGowan and Dan Andrews.
Camera IconMark McGowan and Dan Andrews.

WA will enforce a hard border with Victoria from midnight this evening amid a worsening outbreak in Melbourne.

The new travel ban means Victoria joins NSW and Queensland in being cut off from WA.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson — who signed the new directions after briefing Premier Mark McGowan this morning — urged any West Australian in Victoria to make arrangements to return as soon as possible.

There are six flights from Melbourne scheduled to land in WA today.

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WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson.
Camera IconWA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson. Credit: Kelsey Reid/The West Australian

Victoria is already classified as a “low-risk” jurisdiction, meaning anyone who returns before the midnight cut-off will be required to immediately get tested and then self-isolate for 14 days, with a second test on day 11.

“Return without delay,” Mr Dawson said.

“We’ve seen what’s happened in other places such as NSW and how quickly this COVID virus can spread in the community.”

The Police Commissioner said authorities would work with West Australians attempting to return from Victoria “as compassionately and as reasonably as possible”, including if they could not get onto a flight home today.

But he warned that anyone who delayed their travel back to WA might find it became even harder to re-enter the State, as is already the case for people in NSW.

The decision comes after Victoria announced six new cases on the first day of its five-day snap lockdown, bringing the total number of active cases in the State to 36.

The new infections include a member of the navy based at HMAS Cerberus on the Mornington Peninsula who visited an exposure site at the weekend.

Live-in navy personnel at HMAS Cerberus have been confined to their barracks and training and leave has been suspended.

Meanwhile, 200 staff at the Royal Melbourne Hospital have been stood down after they were potentially exposed to a patient who is a close contact of a COVID-19 case.

There are currently no COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced 97 new cases overnight but warned a further spike was expected this weekend.

“There is no doubt that the numbers are not where we would like them ... I am assuming because we had, in the last 24 hours, at least 29 of those 97 cases were infectious in the community, the numbers tomorrow will be greater than what we saw today,” she said.

The daily number is up from 65 cases recorded on Thursday and compares to the previous high of 112 cases reported on Monday.

There are now 1026 infections associated with the Bondi cluster first discovered exactly a month ago on June 16.

NSW police said 164 enforcement notices were handed out in 24 hours, with more than 200 warnings and advice given to people about breaching the public health orders or getting close to breaching public health orders.

No new COVID-19 cases were diagnosed in WA overnight and Mr Dawson said all six of the cases linked to the recent northern suburbs outbreak had now recovered and been cleared of the virus.

There are currently about 5000 West Australians in home quarantine after recently returning from travel to Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

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