A BORDER bubble has been reintroduced by the Victorian government in response to the COVID outbreak in Sydney.
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From 1am Sunday, the Victorian government declared the whole of regional NSW a orange zone which means anybody from the area requires a permit to cross the Murray River.
However, Victorian COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said on Sunday that would not apply to NSW border residents.
"People who live in our border communities, either side of the Murray, are able to continue to operate as part of the border bubble so they will be able to travel more freely across the border on display of their driver's licence and other form of local ID," Mr Weimar said.
The border bubble in NSW includes councils with a Murray River border and Wagga, Lockhart and Murrumbidgee local government areas.
Victorian police are continuing to monitor border crossings.
Under Victorian rules, those entering from NSW beyond the border bubble are required to have COVID-19 tests.
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"If you are in regional NSW and you have an urgent need to be back in Victoria you must apply for an orange border permit and you must get tested and isolate when you come back to Victoria," Mr Weimar said.
Asked if Victoria may classify the whole of NSW a red zone, Mr Weimar said that would be a decision for the state's chief health officer Brett Sutton.
"The border definitions and the risk status is a matter for the chief health officer," Mr Weimar said.
"Last night the chief health officer announced that we were moving all of regional NSW to an orange zone.
"He will be very keen to understand the latest evidence and the latest cases coming in from NSW.
"My understanding is from media reports that there is a positive case in regional NSW (New England) from the Granites gold mine, which is of course another area of concern.
"There is an AHPPC meeting later on this afternoon, I'm sure there will then be a frank and full discussion about where we stand on a number of different outbreaks.
"We'll take the best possible advice from our chief health officer as we go along over the rest of today and over the days ahead, but I would say...if you're a Victorian in NSW if you need to be back in our state then we would encourage you to do so promptly.
"We would certainly encourage any Victorian please do not travel to NSW at this time, it is an unpredictable situation and we want to ensure that we protect our state and protect the wider Australian eastern coast."
