As NSW marks 12 days with no locally-transmitted cases of COVID-19, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that the last designated NSW ‘red zone’ will now transition to an orange zone, allowing NSW residents with a permit to enter Victoria.
From 6pm (Victorian EADT) tonight the Local Government Area (LGA) of Cumberland will transition to an orange zone and all remaining orange zones will transition to green, the Premier announced today.
This means the Greater Sydney LGAs of Blacktown City, Burwood, Canada Bay City, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield City, Inner West, Parramatta City and Strathfield Municipality and Liverpool will move from orange to green.
Wollongong and the Blue Mountains will also move to green, leaving Cumberland as the only remaining orange zone.
“We’re extremely happy to see the last red zone in New South Wales be downgraded. We’re reminding people to get tested if they’re returning from an orange zone, so we can continue to enjoy an open and COVIDSafe summer,” Mr Andrews said.
He said the updated orange zone listing overrides the previous classification as a red zone and applies to the last 14 days. Anyone who is now in an orange zone and meets the permit criteria can now apply for an Orange Zone Permit from 6pm tonight.
Exemption applications will no longer be required for Cumberland as it’s being downgraded to an orange zone.
Travel from an orange zone requires people to self-isolate on arrival in Victoria, get tested within 72 hours of arrival and remain in quarantine until they receive a negative result. Test results are usually sent within 24 hours.
Travel from a green zone requires people to watch and get tested if they have any symptoms at all.
“This is another fantastic step towards a COVIDSafe 2021 – we’ll continue to monitor the remaining orange zone and will downgrade it as soon as it’s safe to do so,” said Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton.
All travel into Victoria from other states and territories requires a travel permit. You can apply for a permit via the Service Victoria website at service.vic.gov.au.
