Page 2567 - Week 09 - Thursday, 16 September 2021
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The exception to this is the standing exemption for New South Wales residents living in the region surrounding the ACT, which permits entry to the ACT for the approved essential reasons under the ACT’s lockdown restrictions. New South Wales residents who live in specific postcodes surrounding the ACT are permitted to enter without an exemption and, similarly, ACT residents can travel backwards and forwards.
Standing exemptions have also been developed for New South Wales residents who live within the Southern New South Wales Local Health District or in the New South Wales local government areas of Cootamundra, Gundagai, Hill Tops, Junee Shire, Snowy Valleys and Wagga Wagga, which are within the Murrumbidgee Local Health District, to permit entry into ACT health facilities for urgent or critical health care.
ACT Health received 28,435 exemption requests from New South Wales travellers between 20 June and 30 September. Of these applications, 11,852 have been approved; 8,051 have been declined; 5,582 have been withdrawn or an exemption is actually not required under the public health direction; and the remaining applications are waiting for further information or requiring processing.
I give a big shout-out to the exemptions team, who have been working around the clock and under enormous pressure since mid-June 2021 to consider and respond to every exemption application on a case-by-case basis. Assessment of exemptions is done in a compassionate and empathetic way, taking account of individual circumstances and the level of risk being managed.
The situation in New South Wales continues to be monitored, with a particular focus on the region surrounding the ACT. Positive cases have recently been detected in nearby Queanbeyan and Yass, and we expect the risk of incursion to remain high due to the spread of cases across the state.
In Victoria the COVID-19 situation has continued to evolve since Greater Melbourne entered lockdown on 5 August. Case numbers have continued to grow in Greater Melbourne during the lockdown period, with cases seeding into regional Victoria. The Victorian government broadened the lockdown to the entire state of Victoria on 22 August.
In line with this decision, the ACT declared Victoria a COVID-19 affected area from 6 pm on 22 August, which requires all travellers to seek an exemption before entering the ACT, including ACT residents. Until 9 am on 13 September, ACT Health had received 799 exemption applications to enter the ACT from Victoria, of which 344 applications have been approved, 155 have been declined, 237 are awaiting processing or require further information and 63 were withdrawn or an exemption is not required under the public health direction.
With outbreaks continuing to occur across the country, we all need to remember to maintain our COVID-safe behaviours and keep up to date with the latest health advice. This includes using the Check In CBR app when out and about, for contact tracing purposes. Our fantastic digital team continues to refine and update the Check In CBR app by responding to feedback and suggestions from the community. The latest
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