NEXT STOP NSW
BORDERS TO OPEN NOVEMBER 6
TRAVELLERS from New South Wales will be able to enter Tasmania without quarantine from November 6.
There have been no changes to reopening to Victoria, which is still slated for December 1, dependent on Public Health advice.
Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch said states would be classified as high risk until they had less than five cases with an unknown origin within the past 28 days.
Tasmania’s new traveller system Tas e- Travel is live and now accepting registrations for travel from low- risk areas under eased border restrictions.
Since the state’s borders were reopened to “safe states” on Monday, hundreds of people have entered Tasmania.
TRAVELLERS from New South Wales can enter Tasmania without quarantine from November 6.
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein made the announcement on Tuesday as hundreds of travellers from low- risk jurisdictions continue to arrive into the state, and there have been no new cases recorded or referred for further testing.
NSW is currently considered medium risk but, as of early next month, it will be reclassified as a low- risk area alongside Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and ACT.
There have been no changes to reopening borders to Victoria, which is still slated for December 1, dependent on Public Health advice.
Mr Gutwein said he had noted the lack of social distancing among families and friends reuniting on Tuesday as 600 people arrived via seven flights. A further 80 cars arrived in Devonport on Tuesday morning on the Spirit of Tasmania.
“Our processes and systems held up well – in fact they performed exactly as we hoped they would. I can confirm no one was referred for a test,” he said.
Public Health’s intentions were to allow travellers from NSW into the state without quarantine by the first week of November.
“We’ve looked at the opportunity for this to occur and I am pleased to announce it is our intention to classify NSW as a low- risk area effective from Friday, November 6,” Mr Gutwein said.
Also on Tuesday, Director of Public Health Dr Mark Veitch provided a benchmark
of declassifying areas as medium or high risk.
Areas with less than five cases with an unknown origin within the past 28 days will be declassified and despite Victoria’s low number of cases, he said travel to that state would not open before December 1.
“We may be in a position to let Victorians home quarantine in Tasmania, but it’s a little way off yet,” he said.
Tasmania’s new traveller system Tas e- Travel is live and now accepting registrations for travel from low- risk areas under eased border restrictions.
Dr Veitch said two concerns were on top of his mind: the first being a decline in testing numbers from more than 500 a day to fewer than 400 a day.
And he said hospitality businesses in particular were not being rigorous enough about making sure patrons were recording their details on entry.
As of Monday, people who have only been in low- risk areas can register their details and answer questions about where they will have spent time before arriving in Tasmania, to receive a Tas e- Travel QR code. This can be done online, no more than three days before they arrive.