The Victorian Government has announced a seven-day lockdown from 11:59pm Thursday 27 May until 11:59pm on Thursday 3 June in a bid to curb the latest outbreak.
What this means for the point to point transport industry?
• Lockdown: In Victoria - under the current lockdown in Victoria which is in place from 11.59pm Thursday 27 May for 7 days, among other restrictions, you are allowed to leave your home to go to work or study if you can’t reasonably do this from home.
• Declaration: Anyone travelling from Victoria into NSW is required to complete a declaration. Note this doesn’t apply to you if you are providing passenger services within the border region.
• Exemptions: Exemptions are in place for border regions. A border region resident does not have to complete a declaration if they are only travelling within the border region.
o This means if you are a service provider or driver who lives and provides passenger services in the border regions you are exempt from completing a declaration when travelling within the border region. Please check border regions here.
• Places of concern: Further places have been listed as being of concern. Review the full list of locations here and make sure you follow the health advice and check back as the list is being updated regularly. In NSW - under the current Concerns Notice in NSW, when returning to NSW from Victoria, you must remain in your home or place of residence in NSW for 14 days after last in Victoria or while the Concerns Notice is in force. You are allowed to leave your home or place of residence to go to ‘work’ as a reasonable excuse but when not working you need to follow guidance on restrictions.
Returning from Victoria?
Anyone who has been in Victoria on or after 4pm 27 May 2021 must, after arriving in NSW, immediately travel to their place of residence. If you’re already in NSW, you must immediately return to you place of residence. You must not leave home for 14 days after you have left Victoria except with a reasonable excuse, which includes working if you can’t work from home, or while the notice is in force. Read more here.
For NSW residents living in the border region, the stay-at-home requirement will only apply to people who have been outside the border region in Victoria since 4pm today.
Staying vigilant
Please help protect yourself and your passengers to lower the risk of COVID-19 spreading by continuing to follow the COVIDSafe measures we’ve come to know so well:
- Practise good hygiene
- Do not travel if unwell
- Drivers and passengers should wear a mask
- Passengers travelling in a taxi should check in using the QR code
- Set the air conditioning to external airflow rather than to recirculation, or have windows open where appropriate
- Passengers should sit in the backseat of the vehicle
- Encourage passengers to use contactless payments where possible
- Passengers should handle their own luggage where possible
- Get vaccinated, if eligible
Complimentary Vehicle Sanitisation Stations
Service Providers are reminded that in addition to their own cleaning and sanitisation practices, Vehicle Sanitisation Stations (VSS) are available at multiple locations throughout the state. In particular, Albury VSS is open Monday to Saturday 7am to 7pm. This is a complimentary service for all point to point transport vehicles, for up to two sanitisations, per vehicle, per day to help reduce the spread of illness and assist with maintaining driver and passenger safety.
We will continue to keep you updated as we know more and thank you for your ongoing support and contribution in helping us ensure point to point transport drivers and passengers remain COVIDSafe.