From midnight Tuesday 21 July, a border zone clearly defined along the Murray River will restrict entry to NSW for Victorians to extremely limited purposes.
In our region, the tougher COVID-19 restrictions will affect some residents in the East Gippsland Shire who access Bombala for services.
Under a permit, NSW border residents will be restricted in their reasons for travelling into the Victorian side of the border zone. If they travel beyond the border zone into Victoria, they will be required to self-isolate upon return for 14 days. All NSW residents are strongly urged not to travel to Victoria.
All residents who held a permit when the border restrictions were introduced on Wednesday 8 July will need to reapply for a new permit as those permits are now invalid..
Designated border zone residents with a permit will only be able to cross into the other side of the NSW-Victorian border zone to go to work or attend an education institution if they can’t work or learn from home, or to obtain medical care, supplies or health services.
The conditions imposed on permits under the Public Health Order are being tightened. The revised Order will:
• Require COVID Safety Plans for people entering NSW for child access or care arrangements, and freight workers
• Require other critical service workers to self-isolate when not providing their critical services
• Require people attending boarding school or universities as either staff or students to self-isolate for 14 days and obtain a negative swab before attending school
• Restrict entry for medical or hospital services to only be allowed where those services are not available in Victoria or cannot be accessed remotely
• Prohibit seasonal workers coming from Victoria into NSW
• Require any person who accompanies a person with a permit such as a dependent child to also comply with any conditions on the permit, including self-isolating
Border residents can check www.service.nsw.gov.au to determine if their address falls within the newly established border restrictions.
