Hundreds of police officers and army troops are being deployed to enforce the closure of the busy border between Australia's two most populous states as officials grapple to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak.
SYDNEY/MELBOURNE - Hundreds of police officers and army troops are being deployed to enforce the closure of the busy border between Australia’s two most populous states as officials grapple to contain a fresh coronavirus outbreak.
Underscoring the need for decisive action, Victoria state reported a record number of new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, taking the national tally to a three-month high. Daily travel permits will be granted to people who live in border towns and cities but with the closure just hours away, the application system was still being developed.
Victoria was responsible for 191 of the 199 new cases reported nationally on Tuesday, the biggest one-day rise since early April, excluding last week’s addition of historical data from cruise ships. “About a quarter of my staff like me live in NSW, and cross that border every day to come to work,” said Paul Armstrong, who runs a petrol station in Wodonga, a border town on the Victorian side. “I don’t know if they are going to be able to get in.”Ray Bell, owner of the Twofold Bay Motor Inn in Eden, a coastal town on the NSW side of the border, said he received 37 cancellations overnight, including five guests who were forced to leave early to make it back home.
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