South Australia has proclaimed COVID-19 a major emergency, with Premier Steven Marshall announcing he will close the state’s border in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus.
The South Australia border will close from 4 pm on Tuesday with the state setting up a dozen border crossings to facilitate entry and exit from the state. Anyone entering South Australia will be required to sign a declaration regarding their health status and will have to go into 14 days of mandatory self-isolation.
Premier Marshall said the state was making the move in the interest of public health as new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the state.
“We received this advice from the chief public health officer in South Australia,” Marshall said. “She was very clear that we’ve got to do everything we can to reduce the high-risk areas predominantly from people coming across the borders for holidays.”
The premier described the move as unprecedented but said it was to ensure the health of the state’s citizens.
I understand that the decision to close SA’s borders will be hard on many South Australians and businesses. But we have taken this action to protect people’s health and save lives. These are unprecedented times and call for unprecedented measures. pic.twitter.com/gYN1odIt3G
— Steven Marshall, MP (@marshall_steven) March 22, 2020
Tasmania shut its borders to non-residents on Thursday.
The Western Australian government also announced it would be shutting its border to non-residents.WA borders will close from 1:30pm (AWST) on Tuesday, although exemptions will apply for essential services and workers.
“These are extreme steps, but these are extreme days … we all need to step up and play our part in one of the greatest crises facing our state in its history,” WA Premier Mark McGowan said.
“WA is now in a war, the type of war we have never seen before.”
Premier Marshall said the government was actively looking at Rottnest Island as a potential quarantine zone.
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