Latest COVID outbreak sees Sydneysiders warned against travelling to Victorian ski fields

Following the latest COVID outbreak in Sydney and imposed travel restrictions, Victoria Chief Commissioner of Police, Shane Patton has warned Sydneysiders against travelling to Victorian ski fields advising of a ‘soft border’ in place between the two states.

Police have warned that all those attempting to access the ski fields by driving from NSW into Victoria without the correct permit will be fined $4957 and sent back

Chief Commissioner Patton told Melbourne talkback radio station 3AW “we are now in effect putting in a soft border, we haven’t gone to a hard lockdown, but given concerns with red zones in NSW we have now implemented a new operation up around Wodonga, Wangaratta, because of the concerns about the influx to the snowfields and a potential super-spreader event, that’s what the Chief Health Officer’s advice is.

“But right along the NSW border locally we’ve set up extra resources.”

Chief Commissioner Patton added that during past lockdowns police set up checkpoints and a hard border to monitor movement across the state and the rate of detection for breaches of COVID restrictions was 1.14 for every 1000 cars checked.

However, the most recent model used in which there is no hard border but a mobile police presence using number plate recognition - had a detection rate of 48 offences per 1000 cars checked.

“That didn’t mean that every one of them got an infringement, but they could be warned,” he said.

“It goes to show that the model that we believed would be really effective ... we found it also gave us increased mobility to be around the back roads, the feeder roads, we’d set up booze buses and the like, and people didn’t know where we were, versus, well you’re at this checkpoint, we know they are there, we know we can get around it.

Radio station 3AW host Neil Mitchell asked "would it be fair to say if you’re coming into Victoria with New South Wales plates, you’ve got a target on your back?” to which Chief Commissioner Patton replied “that would be fair. They will be appropriately checked as would any hire car as well.”

Image of Falls Creek ski field Victoria