WA's flip-flopping border policy

So 24 hours after WA “opened” their border to SA, it’s shut again because 3 cases of community transmission were detected today, the first in months. Have they got no confidence whatsoever in their ability to trace and treat COVID cases? What confidence does that instil in anyone planning to visit WA?

As a comparison, the SA-NSW border has been open for month now, without any cases making it across the border, even though we still had the occasional community outbreaks in NSW.

Seriously some of these states should look really towards bolstering their COVID treatment and contact tracing regiments, or risk become completely irrelevant (looking at WA and QLD in particular). Not that their citizens know how to social distance anymore anyways, unlike Victorians.

Well said. The response of QLD and WA has reflected their inept health response and poor ability and lack of confidence in contact tracing.

If Scomo was not a marketing spin artist he would start opening travel bubbles so the rest of the country can move on and leave QLD and WA behind.

Instead the Australian economy is held back by the slowest and dumbest states!

It certainly does not build confidence, more and more I think I'll wait for one of the overseas travel bubbles rather than doing a domestic trip.

If they are so brash to force passengers who were in the air at the time into quarantine, there should at least be a guarantee that you will be able to return to your port of origin immediately if you don't leave the airport.

The example in SA today also show that these states which for such a long period of time enforced draconian border restrictions have pretty much achieved nothing, except putting themselves in a false sense of security.

The method can't be worse than the cure. It's time the federal government stop the marketing spin and grow a pair. Open the borders domestically and commence travel bubbles internationally.

Even NZ has shown the virus isn't going anywhere. And it won't without a vaccine. Need to learn to live with it. And if there are sheeple that still want to harp on with “lockdowns save lives, we are all in this together, I am still in work so what is the big deal” then let them stay at home under a doona.

WA wants to be a hermit state. Nobody should plan on any travel there until the vaccine is in existence and broadly rolled out.

And ... 24 hours later, those three (3) South Australian cases have turned to seventeen (17) potentials. That in itself points to a few quite important facts:

1) it should show you how quickly uncontained copies of this virus can replicate.

2) it also shows that no matter how careful such a state (ie: South Australia) has been, opening borders CAN be problematic. South Australia had been COVID- free for probably longer than any other Australian full state while it's borders had been closed. Open the borders and - BINGO - all of a sudden, there are imported cases.

Who knows whether it came from NSW or VIC or QLD or WA etc. It's there now.

Merged from another thread. Originally posted by Rod H:

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Just as we all thought borders being reopened would greatly improve air travel within Australia the dreaded Covid-19 rears it's ugly head again.

Flying into West Australia looked like being fairly hassle free if you came from a "safe " state but just now South Australia is no longer one of them because of a new cluster of Covid-19 so it's quarantine for them now.

It just goes to show how delicate things are and how border closures or entry conditions can change over night.

Virgin and Qantas must be so frustrated at not being able to really start full operations with all of this unknown and rapidly changing environment.

I have a Border Pass to fly into West Australia on Dec 15th but would not be at all surprised if I cannot go as the WA Premier has stated he will shut the border again really quickly if things change for the worse.

It's so frustrating for all involved and won't settle down until a vaccine is found and the population inoculated and that will take all of 2021.

Interstate travel will be nowhere near normal until then.

Sad days ahead for the travelling public and the Airlines!!

Ultimately did we expect anything different? Everywhere that open the virus ALWAYS comes back. Why are surprised?

The price of wanting zero cases is closed borders and open / shut / open / shut. Do we definitely want zero cases or nothing? That is the question.

Vaccine talk is like travel bubble talk. Until there’s a concrete one on the table and not just “promising news”. It’s stay closed or deal with small outbreaks as they happen.

The virus doesn’t go away just because you want it to or think we have done a great job etc etc

Just ridiculous, how many people have to fly through another state to get there anyway, and on any connecting flight you spend hours sitting next to someone who may have just left SA the day before. This country has failed big time with this virus, I would hate to see what would happen in a real crisis like a war or something after watching some states fall to bits over a virus.

Seems not just a WA issue now.....

Hopefully SA will not become the next VIC. It AGAIN highlights the weakness in the hotel quarantine.

To be fair, the WA criteria for quarantine-free entry (very low risk) has always been pegged at 28 days with no community cases.

As soon as this is breached, then that state would fall into the next bracket (low risk) which is entry allowed with a 14-day home quarantine.

If it gets even worse, then the 'hard border' would probably come up again for SA.

So it shouldn't be a surprise, though I agree it's extremely frustrating for all involved including myself with tentative travel plans down the track.

I take it your complaining caus this affects you directly? It's unfortunate but I don't think you should be whinging - it's not WAs fault. It's a clear rule now 28 day community free transmission and entry will be allowed. Your quick to attack the state but the situation is now growing in SA so what would you have prefer WA do - keep borders open so they don't piss anyone off? As for someone that lives in WA - your right I don't know how to social distance anymore - haven't needed to since gee I dunno May? Been loving life over here and I'm sure people in other states have too.

This is the approach Australia has taken, not to get herd immunity and live with it. So deal with it. And if your travel plans are screwed for whatever reason then that's a small price to pay to protect a states health and lifestyle of its permanent citizens.

Not sure why some people assume the potential medi-hotel source of the SA outbreak involved interstate travellers, since Adelaide has 800+ per week quota for international travellers who is a lot more likely to have COVID-19 from Uk/US/India compared to Australian states

Sorry did you mean WA should have opened up to QLD, SA, NT, ACT and Tas a long time ago according to the 28 day criteria?

After travelling to Adelaide about 6 weeks ago I can say that personally I agree with WA closing the borders. Data collection in Adelaide CBD area was non existent. Crowded bars not taking details of patrons was a huge pointer that they didnt consider COVID-19 to be an issue at all. The night of the AFL semi final there my hotel bar was overflowing with locals and staff just ignored what they claimed was to happen. Never once was I asked to sign in at all in the hotel bar or in many other locations.

Well done to WA for protecting their communities IMO.