MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2020) Following a sharp rise in the COVID-19 infection rate across the Australian state of Victoria, the authorities decided to shut its border with New South Wales (NSW) starting from Wednesday, Victoria State Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday.
Australia reported 140 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, and 127 of those were registered in Victoria. Local authorities have already re-imposed restrictions on several residential complexes in the state where coronavirus clusters have been identified. The new lockdown affects almost 3,000 people, who are not allowed to leave their homes for five days.
"From 11:59 PM [13:59 GMT], Midnight, tomorrow night, the border with New South Wales will be closed ... That closure will be enforced on the New South Wales side, so as not to be a drain on resources that are very much focused on fighting the virus right now across our state," Andrews said during a press conference.
Andrews added that the decision to shut the border was made following talks with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
According to Berejiklian, the NSW border will be shut for Melbourne residents on Tuesday, and for all of Victoria on Wednesday. At the same time, Victorians residing in NSW would be allowed to return to their home state.
Australia has so far confirmed 8,586 COVID-19 cases, over 7,400 recoveries and 106 coronavirus-related deaths.
