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Australia closes border between New South Wales and Victoria states in scramble to contain outbreak

Passengers arriving from Melbourne are greeted by staff from New South Wales Health department - JAMES GOURLEY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock 
Passengers arriving from Melbourne are greeted by staff from New South Wales Health department - JAMES GOURLEY/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The border between the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales will be closed Tuesday night for the first time in over 100 years as Victoria struggles to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The border closure was announced as two men in Victoria, one in his 60s and one in his 90s, died from coronavirus and Michael Kidd, the state’s deputy chief medical officer, warned that the outbreak is “a national issue" and “we are all at risk” from a second wave of infections.

There are over 50 border crossings between Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne, to New South Wales, whose capital is Sydney, and the flight path between the two cities is one of the busiest in the world.

The Victorian government locked down 36 of the most virus-prone Melbourne suburbs last week and at the weekend added another four suburbs because of the disease spread.

Kelvin Mui, who lives in the Victorian side of twin city Albury-Wodonga, told The Telegraph that the closure is like “cleaving a heart in two” for the community.

“There are a lot of people who live in Albury and work in Wodonga and a lot of people who live in Wodonga and work in Albury, everyone knows each other… It is a very difficult time for a lot of residents,” he said.

Mr Mui, who works in a hospital in Wodonga, said “we have had a lot of calls and emails about what is going to happen from here”.

“We don’t really know, it’s an evolving situation. At the local supermarket we are seeing low stock levels again,” he said, referring to panic buying.

Victoria recorded 127 new cases on Monday, and New South Wales reported just ten, all of whom were travellers returning to the state and in quarantine.

Gladys Berejiklian, the New South Wales Premier, described stopping travel between Australia's two most populous states as a “mammoth task”.

Officials will monitor 55 ground crossings, including four major highways, 33 bridges and two waterways, between the states.

Police and health officials will also be on standby to question travellers who return via air or rail.

The rules are expected to be similar to those implemented on the Queensland-New South Wales border more than three months ago, which prevented traffic from entering Queensland.

New South Wales remained open, with officials monitoring passengers at airports and train stations.

Permit holders, emergency services workers, freight drivers and returning travellers will be able to cross into New South Wales from Victoria. The details of the exemptions which will allow people to travel between the states with permits are yet to be announced.

Anna Speedie, the Wodonga Mayor, told the ABC she hoped the permit system would be implemented quickly and fairly.

“While we've got two separate cities in two different states, our cities absolutely act as one economy and one community… About half of my people work in Albury and about half of Albury work over here so it's going to be incredibly challenging,” she said. “I'm really hoping that permit system is sensible.”

Western Australia’s border has remained closed throughout the crisis, and on Monday the state’s premier, Mark McGowan, asked the Federal Government to limit international flight arrivals in WA’s capital, Perth, to approximately one every three days.