NSW gets entry ticket
Restrictions lifting on Friday morning
TASMANIAN borders will reopen to New South Wales from 12.01am this Friday, the government has confirmed.
With just two unexplained cases in the past 28 days, Public Health officials deemed it safe for people to enter Tasmania from NSW without quarantine.
TASMANIA’S border will be opening to New South Wales despite that state having a higher number of active COVID- 19 cases than Victoria.
The state government confirmed on Tuesday that travellers from NSW will be allowed to enter the state freely from 12.01am Friday.
Premier Peter Gutwein said travellers will be able to enter without having to quarantine.
However, they will still need to undertake health screening and possible COVID testing.
Tasmania reopened its borders to low- risk states Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia as well as the ACT and the Northern
Treritory on October 26.
It is not yet known whether the state will reopen to Victoria sooner than December 1.
On Tuesday, Victoria had 38 active cases, compared with 49 in NSW.
“Case numbers in Victoria are also very low, with no new cases in recent days and several complex outbreaks appearing to be controlled,” Mr Gutwein said.
“December 1 has been indicated as the date by which we hope to relax border restrictions with Victoria.
“Public Health will provide advice on the prospect of an earlier first step of enabling safe home quarantine for people travelling from Victoria to Tasmania in the coming weeks.”
Labor leader Rebecca
White said the decision to open to NSW reinforced the need for a standardised contact tracing system.
“While the government insists on maintaining restrictions on things like drinking while standing, it has failed to act on massive gaps in their ability to contact trace,” she said.
Ms White said NSW was widely regarded as the gold standard for contact tracing, using a standardised form or QR code- based system.
“This is vitally important because it ensures that any case of the virus results in a swift and accurate response to follow up anyone who might have been a close contact,” she said.