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Dalton calls for COVID-19 protections for Moama and surrounds

Aug 15, 2021

NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton has addressed concerns from residents about travel between Sydney and regional NSW towns in a letter to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

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“While residents of COVID-free Moama require a permit to travel a few kilometres to COVID-free Echuca, there are no such requirements for Sydney residents travelling from COVID-19 hotspots to vulnerable regional towns,” Ms Dalton writes.

“There are still daily flights from Sydney to Griffith — mostly carrying essential workers or Griffith residents returning home.

“Passengers are not required to prove they are COVID-19-free when they board their plane from Sydney, nor when they disembark in Griffith.

“This creates the risk that COVID-19 may spread into the Murrumbidgee, where we have inadequate health services to deal with an outbreak.

“(I) request a new Public Health Order requiring:

● All passengers be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result (from the previous 72 hours) before boarding a flight from Sydney Airport to a regional NSW location;

● Anyone travelling to a Regional NSW location (by road) be required to have a negative COVID-19 test result (from the previous 72 hours) before leaving Sydney.”

Greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour, as well as selected local government areas, currently have stay-at-home orders in place.

By McPherson Media Group