Another 30 coronavirus cases recorded on the Northern Beaches as restrictions tightened for Greater Sydney sbs.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sbs.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hannah Wootton
Sydneysiders will be cut off from most of Australia from midnight on Sunday as Victoria, Queensland and SA joined WA and Tasmania in slamming their borders closed in light of the city s growing northern suburb s cluster.
Victoria s NSW border will close to anyone who is from or has visited Greater Sydney and the Central Coast from midnight on Sunday, with anyone entering after that time ordered into hotel quarantine.
Loading
Victorians get a grace period; if they return home by midnight on Monday, they can quarantine at home provided they get a COVID-19 test within 24 hours. From midnight on Monday, they will also enter hotel quarantine.
Air staff flying into other states haven t been given any special treatment
It s also revealed 900 foreign diplomats have been allowed to isolate at home
It comes after 13 airline crew members broke self-isolation earlier this month
Thousands of international air crew have been allowed to catch Ubers to a hotel of their own choosing to quarantine in NSW, while those landing anywhere else receive no special treatment.
Hundreds of foreign diplomats have also been given permission to skip hotel quarantine and self-isolate at home, despite two breaching the rules and nine testing positive to coronavirus.
ADVERTISEMENT
Thirteen airline crew broke self-isolation, left their hotel and headed out for a night on the town after arriving in Sydney on December 5.
Cluster ballooned to 70 cases after 30 new infections were announced Sunday
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday urged all NSW residents to wear a mask
28 of Sunday s new cases are linked to the cluster on the Northern Beaches
Panic buying reminiscent of the first wave has swept across supermarkets
Anyone who visited Wharf Bar on December 12 should get tested and isolate
Other hotspots include Steyne Hotel, Cronulla Mall and Riverwood Woolworths
Advertisement
Premier Daniel Andrews has closed the border to visitors from Sydney, given Victorian residents until 11.59pm Monday to get home or face two weeks of hotel quarantine, and will establish police checkpoints along the southern side of the border for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Throwing Christmas holiday plans into chaos, Mr Andrews has dispatched 700 police and military personnel to enforce the border lockdown, which will begin at 11.59pm on Sunday.
He also requested 200 to 300 ADF troops, but Canberra sources said the Morrison government had not responded to his request on Sunday evening, and it could take two or three days to assess the need.