Free travel between Canberra and Victoria is set to restart for the first time in more than three months after the ACT Chief Minister cleared the way for eased travel restrictions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Andrew Barr says the ACT will mirror the NSW move to allow Victorians to move across the border from November 1.
NSW, however, will not allow unvaccinated Victorians to enter the state for holiday or recreation.
Mr Barr acknowledged concerns about Victorians using Canberra as a back-door entry to NSW. It's unclear how or if unvaccinated Victorians will be able to get to the ACT if they are driving.
But the ACT doesn't have a two-tier system separating vaccinated and unvaccinated visitors, meaning all Victorians would be welcome in the capital but would have to adhere to NSW rules if they cross the border.
"The chief health officer indicated we would align with the NSW decision," Mr Barr said on Friday.
"We can't go before them because that would be opening up a back door into NSW via Canberra airport and it would be silly to not align in relation to a jurisdiction they would have to travel through NSW to get to the ACT.
"November 1 is the date, that decision has been taken and NSW confirmed that late last night. I can absolutely confirm November 1 is the date [for Victorian travel to restart]."
It comes as the ACT recorded 13 new cases of COVID-19, as the capital's retail stores reopened to customers for the first time in more than two months.
Canberra's vaccination rate continues to climb with the number of over-12s fully vaccinated at 84.6 per cent.
MORE COVID-19 NEWS:
The number of patients in hospital stands at 20, with 11 in intensive care and five on ventilators.
Non-essential retail in Canberra reopened on Friday, one week ahead of schedule.
Interstate travel between NSW and Victoria will still be disrupted for another week, with entrants to NSW from Victoria still subject to stay-at-home rules until November 1.
From that date an unvaccinated person who has been in Victoria in the previous 14 days will not be able to enter NSW for a holiday or recreation.
"There are still places of high concern - close and casual contact venues - in Victoria," NSW Health said.
Victoria slammed shut its border to people from Canberra in early July after the Victorian government deemed the ACT a hotspot because of the NSW outbreak.
Canberra then banned Victorian travellers later in July because of an outbreak in Melbourne.
Melbourne is considered the most locked-down city in the world, having endured 263 days under stay-at-home orders since March 2020. The latest lockdown lasted 77 days.
Victoria recorded another 2189 new COVID-19 cases and 16 deaths on Friday, the highest daily tally of the state's third wave.
Mr Barr said that would not restrict travel to Canberra because vaccination rates in Victoria continued to rise.
Victoria eased its travel restrictions on NSW and ACT residents earlier this week, allowing vaccinated visitors to enter the state. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated visitors will have to isolate on arrival until they return a negative test.
The double-dose vaccination rate is above 80 per cent and the border to NSW will fully reopen on November 1.
Our coverage of the health and safety aspects of this outbreak of COVID-19 in the ACT and the lockdown is free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. You can also sign up for our newsletters for regular updates.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram