Thousands of Victorians to be allowed to return from NSW from next week
Thousands of Victorians will be able to return home from NSW from next week if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the rule change today, acknowledging that many people have "been trapped in New South Wales for a lengthy period".
"I can announce today that new rules will come into place from 30 September so Victorians in an extreme risk zone, which is basically Sydney at this time, will be eligible to return home to Victoria if they are double vaccinated," he said.
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Premier Daniel Andrews says Victorians stranded in NSW will be allowed to return home.. Nine
The returning citizens will be required to return a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before they leave NSW, while they will also be required to quarantine at home for 14 days when they arrive in Victoria.
Mr Andrews said the 14 days of quarantine would need to be taken seriously.
"That home quarantine is serious, it is not a matter of when you feel like it, it will be a proper 14 days and there will be various mechanisms to check on people," he said.
Mr Andrews said the returning citizens would need to quarantine because the COVID-19 situation in NSW was far different, with the state having been ruled an "extreme risk" zone.
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Police have been manning the Victoria-NSW border for months. Nine
He said the vaccination only prevented people from getting seriously ill.
"It does not prevent you from getting the virus and it doesn't prevent you from spreading the virus," he said.
Mr Andrews said the rule change was "a big step forward".
"It has been an inconvenience and challenge for those people and their families and we have said so many times, we don't want to have people locked out of their state and we don't want people locked into their home."
He estimated several thousand Victorians were waiting to come home from NSW.
"I can't be absolutely clear because not everybody has registered or applied to come home," he said.
"But we think it is thousands of people."
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