Victoria Shrinks Border Bubble As COVID Cases Rise

The pathway out of lockdown for Albury remains a work in progress, despite zero cases in the regional city or anywhere else in southern NSW.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian made it evidently clear at Thursday's COVID conference that getting vaccinated is non-negotiable, and more likely the only way out of lock down.

"No matter where you live in NSW please expect to have much more freedom than what you do now, so long as your vaccinated fully and so long as 70 per cent of our residents are vaccinated"

- Premier Gladys Berejiklian

The Border Briefing

However, south of the Murray, there will be some easing of restrictions for Victorians, with children allowed back in playgrounds as early as Friday.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said with some exclusions, regional Victorians will soon be eased out of the state's tight lockdown.

"Just put Shepparton one side for one moment and think about the rest of regional Victoria. We will be able to end the lockdown in the rest of regional Victoria next week"

- Premier Dan Andrews

Meantime, from 11:59pm Thursday, the border bubble is set to shrink again, with the Victorian Department of Health warning that cases in NSW are a bigger threat than ever before.

The 'border bubble burst' includes, or rather, now excludes Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, Benalla, Buloke, Loddon, and Yarriambiack on the Victorian side and Broken Hill and Edward River on the NSW side, ensuring that residents from these regions will longer be eligible for Cross Border Extreme Zone Permits.

New South Wales recorded 1288 new COVID cases and seven deaths, while Victoria have hit their highest number of infections so far this year with 176 new COVID cases.

Join Tom Tilley with regular rotating co-hosts Jan Fran, Annika Smethurst and Jamila Rizvi on The Briefing, Monday - Saturday, for the day's headlines and breaking news as well as hot topics and interviews. Available on Listnr.