Tasmania is banning all Victorian travellers from midnight on July 8, amid an escalating COVID-19 outbreak in Melbourne.
The tightened border restrictions also include a ban on those who have been in Victoria within 14 days before travel.
“The only exception to that will be Tasmanians returning home,” Tasmania Premier Peter Gutwein said on Wednesday.
“If visitors arrive from Victoria without an exemption letter, they will be asked to return home. They will be turned back at their own expense.”
The island state has gone more than 50 days without recording a COVID-19 case and is free of active cases.
Tasmania is planning to reopen its border to mainland Australia on July 24, but Gutwein announced that will not include Victoria.
He said people from Victoria could apply for an exemption on compassionate grounds but that was unlikely to be granted in the short term.
Businesses can no longer employ essential workers from Victoria, unless they can prove the skills don’t exist in other states.
“Our aim is to ensure Tasmania doesn’t suffer a second wave, like Victoria is now suffering,” Gutwein said.
“I want to extend our thoughts and support to the Victorians who are in lockdown at the moment.”
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