Australians Spend Christmas within Locked State Borders

Traditionally Christmas in Australia is spent with family and friends, and many people take the opportunity to travel elsewhere in the country to reconnect with distant relatives.

However, as the Sydney cluster threatened to spread, recently reopened interstate borders were slammed shut again, barring residents from Australia's largest city from entering and throwing many people's plans into disarray.

By Christmas Eve the Sydney cluster had grown to over 100 cases, less than was feared but enough to warrant harsh restrictions on those within the outbreak area. State authorities split Sydney's Northern beaches into two sections, imposing a strict lockdown on the region where the cluster originated.

So far the State of New South Wales (NSW), of which Sydney is the capital, has named over 100 venues as being visited by a known case. Anyone who also attended during the same period is considered a close contact and required to self-isolate for 14 days whether they return a negative reading or not. 

One of them is Paul, who lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches within the lockdown zone. He received a call from health authorities less than a week before Christmas informing him that he had been at a pub at the same time as somebody infected with the virus and would need to isolate.

He said it was difficult knowing he would have to remain in isolation despite receiving a negative test result, although he understood the concern of health authorities that the virus could appear in some people later.

"I'd prefer not to, but considering I was a close contact it is in the best interest for everyone that I wait it out," Paul said.

"NSW Health have done a pretty good job at keeping low case numbers so I'm happy to abide by their guidelines."

Another Sydney resident, David Wong, who lives outside the affected area, described making plans for Christmas as like "riding a roller coaster".

Wong and his family planned to drive to the Sunshine Coast with another friend's family on the eve of Christmas. However, with the outbreak of the cluster in Northern Beaches, his hope for a happy holiday has become increasingly vague.

"I kept swiping the news website last weekend, paying close attention to the change of border policies of other states. I even considered an earlier departure but I thought the situation may not be that bad," Wong told Xinhua.

However, with 30 new locally acquired cases recorded on Sunday, the neighboring state of Queensland tightened its border policy again, announcing those who want to enter Queensland from Greater Sydney since midnight of Dec. 21 have to apply for an exemption and go into a 14-day hotel quarantine at their own expense.

Wong canceled his Queensland holiday and changed it into a two-day tour in Port Stephen in NSW.

"A local holiday is not bad. It takes less time and money and we can support the local economy. At least we can still travel around. We should feel appreciative," he said.

Read: Indonesia Takes Anticipatory Steps as Europe Finds New Coronavirus Variant

Xinhua