Victoria is easing its COVID-19 border restrictions with NSW and the ACT, opening the door for more stranded residents to return home.
From midnight on Wednesday, red zone areas in NSW and the ACT – mainly regional places not in lockdown – will be downgraded to orange zones.
The change will allow both residents and non-residents to enter Victoria as long as they take a test within 72 hours of arrival and wait for a negative result before leaving isolation.
Extreme risk zone classifications for other areas, including Greater Sydney, will also be lowered to red, meaning Victorians can return if they isolate at home for 14 days.
Health Minister Martin Foley said authorities were confident enough to make the changes given the improving outlook in NSW.
It comes as Victoria on Wednesday reported 1420 new locally-acquired cases and 11 deaths, the most fatalities of the state’s third wave.
The latest deaths, which bring the toll from the current outbreak to 68, are six women aged in their 60s to 90s and five men aged in their 50s to 80s.
Premier Daniel Andrews offered his condolences to the families and reinforced the need for Victorians to get vaccinated to better protect themselves.
“This is a deadly virus. Get vaccinated and if you can’t get vaccinated today, make an appointment to get vaccinated today,” he told reporters.
“The three vaccines are safe and in fact they will keep you and the people you love safe.”
Some 525 Victorian are in hospital battling the virus, 94 of whom are in intensive care and 53 of them on a ventilator.
The seventh consecutive day of four-figure daily cases has pushed active cases in the state up to 14,410.
More than 71,000 Victorians were tested in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, while 36,542 vaccinations were administered at state-run sites.
Meanwhile, the CFMEU is poised to expel members who participated in violent protests outside its Melbourne office.
Seven infections are linked to the CFMEU headquarters protest on September 20 when demonstrators threw bottles at union officials and smashed the office’s door down in protest at mandatory vaccinations and other construction industry restrictions.
Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka said dozens of families and children had been affected, and officials were reviewing footage to identify members.
“They’ll be fronting the executive of the union and they’ll have to answer for their actions,” he told Nine’s Today on Wednesday.
“In some of the cases, in some of the footage that I’ve seen, they’ll probably be expelled from the union.
“We’re not going to tolerate behaviour like that. Not against union members’ property … and then on top of that starting a superspreader, I mean it’s just absolutely unforgivable.”
The construction industry in Melbourne and other locked-down areas restarted on Tuesday, with workers required to have had their first jab and strict conditions such as workforce caps and on-site COVID marshals.
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