NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has put the hard word on New South Wales residents regarding travel to Victoria amid the states recent spike in coronavirus cases.
Victoria recorded 17 overnight cases of coronavirus, forcing two primary schools in Melbourne’s coronavirus hotspots to close. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said 11 of the new recorded cases were under investigation, emphasising that there would be “significant community transmission” among the new cases.
In a press conference today, Berejiklian called on NSW tourism operators to ban Victorian residents from their services, specifically those travelling from Melbourne.
“I call on all organisations not to interact with citizens from Melbourne at this stage,” Berejiklian shared, “I would definitely encourage organisations to consider who to allow on their premises and where they’re coming from.”
We didn’t expect Gladys Berejiklian to be the face of the anti-Melbourne movement, but we also didn’t expect anything about 2020.
The premier’s comments arrive a day after Berejiklian stressed that NSW residents should not travel to Victoria unless absolutely necessary.
“We would recommend nobody travel to those hotspots and certainly the Victorian government and Victorian health experts have also suggested to people living in those hotspots not to travel around,” she said. “We obviously strongly endorse that.
“I appreciate what Victoria is going through but don’t assume that it won’t happen in NSW or anywhere else […] it can happen very quickly, just with a couple of cases, a couple of instances of people spreading the virus unintentionally.”
Community transmission of coronavirus has significantly flatlined in NSW, with only two recorded cases over the past week. Whilst more than 83 per cent of new cases in Australia over the past week have been traced to Victoria.
