WA Will Open Its Borders to Victoria and NSW Next Week

Everyone gets Chrissy with their fam this year.

If there’s something that we’ve all been keeping our fingers crossed for, it’s the chance to celebrate Christmas and New Year with all of our Aussie family members and friends, regardless of what state they live in.

For a long time, things have been looking pretty grim on the border front. Victoria had a nightmare second wave, New South Wales and Queensland struggled with community cases and just when South Australia thought it was in the clear, another coronavirus cluster popped up out of nowhere.

But now, after almost nine months of strict rules, it seems like we may finally be at a place where domestic travel with few restrictions is possible. Earlier this week, Western Australia (the state with the toughest border restrictions) announced that they will be reopening their borders to Victoria and New South Wales from as early as next week.

The latest health advice from WA’s Chief Health Officer Dr. Andrew Robertson has classified the two states at very low risk of coronavirus spread, which means no more 14-day quarantine.

Now that Victoria has reached 28 days without community transmission of coronavirus, it officially qualifies for eased border rules according to WA’s criteria.

WA Premier Mark McGowan announced on Facebook this morning that this was the next cautious and safe step of WA’s controlled interstate border.

"Subject to no further outbreaks occurring and based on updated Chief Health Officer advice, Victoria and New South Wales will be classified as 'very low risk' states from 12.01am, Tuesday, December 8," he said.

As of Tuesday 8 December, restrictions will be lifted—as long as VIC and NSW keep their cases nice and low— and people wanting to travel between WA, NSW and/or VIC can do so without quarantining.

This, however, does not mean that there are no travel conditions. Travelers must meet a number of health checks including health screenings and a temperature check, complete a G2G pass outlining recent travel, and take a COVID-19 test if necessary, upon arrival in WA.

While almost everyone will get to spend Christmas with their family this year, for now South Australia is still classified as a medium risk state after their break out just two weeks ago (and the exact day travelers were supposed to be able to come to and from WA and SA).

So for now, anyone hoping to drive between WA, NSW and VIC going through SA will have to quarantine like everyone else in SA.

Header Image: Paul Kane via Getty Images