Australian authorities to close border due to COVID-19 pandemic

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has said Australia’s remote Northern Territory (NT) will keep its borders closed to coronavirus-affected states for at least another 18 months.

Australia is battling a second wave in its south-east, with about 8,000 active cases in Melbourne and smaller clusters in Sydney.

Officials in the sparsely-populated NT, which hasn’t had an infection since May, said an “18-month window” barring visitors from virus hotspots was just a “conservative” forecast

While people from those hotspots can still enter the territory, they must complete a mandatory 14-day quarantine at their own cost, which has been an effective deterrent.

The prime minister said interstate travel restrictions will likely persist until Christmas.

Last week, Queensland re-closed its borders to New South Wales which includes Sydney – and the Australian Capital Territory.