The NSW government will consider establishing a border north of Albury as it responds to the "high-risk situation" caused by an escalating COVID-19 outbreak in Victoria.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian has already urged residents in Albury and other border towns not to travel to other parts of the state, warning the widespread community transmission in Victoria is a huge risk for NSW.
"The probability of contagion in NSW given what's happened in Victoria is extremely high," Ms Berejiklian said on Wednesday.
The premier said her government will consider either establishing a border north of Albury or making exemption permits more difficult to obtain.
More than 50,000 exemption permits were issued on Tuesday and Wednesday for people living in NSW-Victoria border communities, allowing them to cross between the two.
"We are monitoring this situation every few hours ... we are in a high-risk situation," Ms Berejiklian said in Sydney.
The Berejiklian government is also looking into making hotel quarantine mandatory for NSW residents returning from the southern state.
Currently, NSW residents returning from Victoria must self-isolate at home for 14 days but Ms Berejiklian said forced hotel quarantine - which residents will have to pay for - has not been ruled out.
The state has also tightened procedures at Sydney airport after passengers were allowed to disembark a Melbourne-to-Sydney flight without a second health screening.
A NSW Health spokesperson said airline staff hadn't followed the agreed protocols when they let passengers from Jetstar flight JQ520 leave the gate area before health staff had finished screening an earlier flight.
"As a result of this breach, flights will now not be allowed to land in NSW until NSW Health teams are in place to screen them," the spokesperson said in a statement.
NSW on Wednesday recorded eight new COVID-19 cases including seven in hotel quarantine and a woman in her 30s from southwest Sydney. The woman's case remains under investigation.
Australian Associated Press
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