With concern still growing over the Covid outbreak in Victoria, there is renewed awareness of the ease with which holidaymakers could inadvertently help spread the virus.
Health authorities have said a confirmed case from Melbourne recently travelled to several areas of New South Wales while potentially infectious, including Jervis Bay on the south coast and Goulburn in the southern tablelands.
The ABC reports that the man was on a camping holiday with his wife and children, drove back to Melbourne on May 24 and got tested on May 31. Victoria’s stay-at-home measures took effect on May 27.
NSW Health has issued an alert for several venues in Jervis Bay, Goulburn, Hyams Beach and Vincentia, including the Green Patch campground at Booderee National Park for all day on May 23 until 9am on May 24
The recent outbreak has had a knock-on effect across the country, but police in Western Australia say they are delighted with the way Victorian travellers have responded to the new demands placed up on them. Last week’s Melbourne outbreak resulted in about 900 Victorian tourists in the state’s far north being instructed to immediately isolate and present for a Covid-19 test.
District Police Superintendent Greg Crofts told the ABC he had been impressed.
“Almost all of those people have presented for testing, and we haven’t had to chase anyone up, which has been great,” he said. “Especially in the Kimberley, where you don’t always have phone reception, and where some have had to travel a long distance to get to a Covid testing clinic.”
Extra police resources have been sent to the regional centres most affected, such as the Kimberley.
Superintendent Crofts was eager to dismiss rumours that some Victorian travellers were attempting to sneak into WA by using remote roads, such as Duncan Road which connects Alice Springs and Halls Creek.
“We do roaming patrols of those roads, and we have cameras set up out there,” he told ABC Kimberley. “I’m not naïve enough to think that there isn’t a way they could get in, but we have no evidence of that happening.”
Superintendent Crofts said that the emergency Covid directions were clear, and that travellers can only enter WA by road via the Victoria Highway or the Nullarbor at Eucla.
With the heightened awareness, there have been some false alarms in the remote Kimberley, causing anxiety in local Aboriginal communities.
On Friday, the Mt Barnett Roadhouse on the Gibb River Road closed suddenly when word spread about a group of recently arrived Victorians at the adjoining campground.
The roadhouse posted a message on Facebook the following day.
“Upon requesting all travellers leave, the majority did so with no complaint and totally understood our situation,” it said. “However, of course there were some travellers that caused a fuss and made it extremely difficult for our staff in a situation that was already hard enough.”
The ABC reports that there is concern that Covid-19 complacency is rife in regions like the Kimberley, which has not had a recorded case of the virus for more than a year.
Last year when Western Australia was locked down by region, there were some communities in the north of Western Australia that were shut down completely. Even Western Australians weren’t allowed in.
Victoria doesn’t have big communities of Aboriginals like we do in Western Australia. The fear is if Covid 19 gets into these communities, many will die. Victorians, use a bit of common sense and stay over your side of the border.
Rob, sorry too late! Already travelling around WA. If anyone in WA wants to know how long we have been here etc, they can call 000. We are sick of having to justify where we have been etc, happened last year too.
You Victorians do not understand just how limited our facilities are here in the Kimberley at the best of times .
.Hospitals, garages,chemists and shops here are clogged up due to tourists and these establishments do not have enough trained staff or enough medicines ,supplies or resources to cope with a normal plundering tourist season – much less a tourist group which is mostly
escaping from a possible covid threat and because they cant travel overseas
. They simply would not cope at all if there was an outbreak which could easily happen in our crowded supermarkets ,newsagents pubs or post offices.Only a few businesses really benefit from tourism and often at the expense of the environment and locals.
.This of course is NOT the fault of the tourist but our local ,state and federal governments who want tourist money without supplying infrastructure.
These elected officials have also failed to get us all vaccinated before the influx of covid variants( which have now arrived ) and before exposing us to possible covid from travellers who may have it but show no symptons and who may not get tested yet still pass it on to a vulnerable local population unknowingly with particularly devastating effects on indigenous peoples .
I know many tourists probably care more for our beloved Kimberley and its environment than many locals so we are all being shortchanged at the moment .
Good on you Anne its 99% scam. The Only transmission is from infected quarantine. Its directly and squarely the State Governments fault . They are now conning people into believing its some sort of super strain which it has just been proven the opposite. Its the inept contact tracing thats the issue. They couldnt figure what was what
Peoples behaviour towards VIC have become very rude and treat VIC like shit. .There is no need for rude behaviour. ..Last year VIC had stones thrown at their caravans and caravans were also spray painted on ” Go back to where you come from “..Other Grey Nomads, letting their grey water out under peoples VICTORIANS Caravans…Their behaviour has become pathetically discussing. ..
Who told them to leave?
Not having been to an exposure site doesn’t mean you are in the clear. Applied to enter SA from NSW to travel home to WA and was declined. All because we had been in Victoria on the 20th. However that was as far from Melbourne you can get (Wodonga) and left on the 24th. We are now drifting around Central West NSW until we can return.
Its pathetic Andrew, we live in Wodonga, never had a case here and can usually cross into NSW provided we stay in the “border bubble” but this time NSW has locked us out. Australia as a nation no longer exists, we’re just a bunch of states being ruled by city centric bureaucrats.
Hope common sense will prevail and you can get home soon.
It’s the same between Regional & Greater Melbourne. It’s no longer Victoria together as one. Regional behaved terribly against GM, it’s a disgrace. I will no longer suppler Regional.
I thought we were one, how wrong I am. Quite sad isn’t it.
Parochialism, ignorance, and irrational belief systems contribute to the situation current and prospective Australian travellers will encounter in WA for the indeterminable future. Best go somewhere else.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock all these years you won’t be surprised to find “parochialism, ignorance, and irrational belief systems” are not exclusive to W.A. As a Sandgroper I thank you for taking your attitude somewhere else.
Cheers
Good news, on our way home now after being cleared by SA and Emperor McGowan.
People need to wake up. The Government wants to play city against country and State against sState to distract people.The term Lockdown is a penal system term and process to contain dangerous prisoner break outs THATS how the government sees us when its actually 100%ttyheir fault. The incompetents quarantine people in the heart of the city with the same poor safeguards as day one.
I can’t believe the conspiracy theories I’m reading. We are obviously catching the “American disease” or as I know that country as – the dis-United States of America. While I understand each state has its own customs and agendas I think our national identity should be respected – as would be expected by those who served or died to protect it.
With this (wait for it!!) unprecedented pandemic present we are all being inconvenienced, or worse and those of us lucky enough to escape it (in the health sense) must learn to make adjustments. We are a retired couple who had planned to start our interstate travelling early last year but we’re still waiting it out here in W.A.
If there are any criticisms or accusations to be made then they should be directed at our national and state governments – IN THAT ORDER. They are the ones responsible for the mismanagement of said disease!