Australian officials closed the border between the two most populous States of Australia: Victoria and New South Wales. The border is closed from Tuesday for an indefinite period in an attempt to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus in the most densely populated city in the country – Melbourne. In recent times officials have blocked the movement between these two States in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic, reminds Reuters. The border will be patrulirovanie military to prevent illegal crossings. To control for possible points of intersection between the two States will be also used drones.
"Is a smart decision, the right call at the present time, given the serious challenges we face in containing the virus", – told reporters in Melbourne the head of government of the state of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, announced the closure of the border, ranging from 23-59 local time on Tuesday.
According to him, it was a joint decision taken by the Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison and Prime Minister of the New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian. This step, according to analysts, could hit the recovery of the Australian economy, which is gradually approaching its first recession in almost three decades. The only other interior border of Victoria with South Australia had already been blocked. Note that in Victoria the largest GDP in the country. In addition, with the start of the school holidays many of the families who were looking forward to holidays, will now have to cancel their trip.
According to the Prime Minister of New South Wales Gladys Berejiklian, people will be able to apply for daily permits for border crossing, but permits can take about three days.
In recent days, the number of cases COVID-19 in Melbourne has increased dramatically, prompting the authorities to ensure the strict requirements for social distancing in 30 suburbs and completely block nine social condominiums, where about three thousand low-income Australians and migrants. Assessment of the authorities, the cause of the outbreak of the disease is that the guards of social dwellings has violated the rules of isolation, actively communicating without masks with residents and with each other. Australia as a whole coped with the pandemic coronavirus is better than many countries: the country recorded only 8,500 cases and 106 deaths, but the outbreak in Melbourne in the last two weeks has caused the authorities concern. During the last seven days in the country reported an average of 109 cases per day in the first week of June an average of 9 cases per day. The outbreak in the capital of Victoria over the past two weeks PR��led to hundreds of cases of infection is more than 95% of new infections was Australian, said the BBC.
