In December, as Sydney faced the emergence of its worst surge in community transmission since May, Australia’s other states and territories were swift to seal their borders with New South Wales. Thanks to the efforts of NSW's contact tracers, the handful of clusters linked to the Avalon outbreak have now been brought under control, with no new instances of community transmission detected in NSW for 11 consecutive days, as of January 28.
As such, interstate travel looks set to resume. Following announcements from the Victorian and Queensland governments about reopening their borders, South Australia has also announced that visitors from all parts of NSW, including Greater Sydney, will once again be allowed to enter from Sunday, January 31, once NSW has recorded 14 consecutive days with no new cases of community transmission. However, SA will continue to impose certain safety protocols on new arrivals from the Harbour City even after borders reopen.
While visitors will not need to quarantine for 14 days in a government-specified hotel, they will be required to take a mandatory test on days one, five and 12 of their stay. They must also self-isolate in the location of their choice until they receive a negative result from their first test, which can take up to three days. South Australian police commissioner Grant Stevens warned that SA authorities would reinstate travel restrictions if any community transmission emerged in Sydney before January 31, but that he and his colleagues were confident that Sydney would reach South Australia’s threshold of 14 days with no new cases. Currently, anyone residing in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast or Wollongong is not permitted to enter South Australia.