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Borders have traditionally been something Australians worry about in a national context.
Border Force, border security etc.
We haven't really worried about state borders until this year, and we haven't needed to. They are but arbitrary lines on a map, with no checkpoints to stop people travelling in either direction.
Even the people that lived right next to borders, on either side, forgot this was the case. But COVID-19 has changed that, like it has everything else.
When the South Australian government closed its borders to all but the most essential travellers on March 22, it changed the daily lives of residents on the Victorian side from places like Kaniva.
As a hairdresser in town has noted, residents often crossed the border because Bordertown has services the Victorian town does not, and vice-versa.
Even those deemed essential travellers are finding things tougher. Since Wednesday, all people travelling across the border have had to give authorities online notice of their plans, while a new mother has had to reschedule some post-natal checkups after the Mount Gambier hospital where she gave birth in March cancelled them.
The closure has also put a dampener on the major good news story in the region this week: That being the only passenger train service in the state's west will continue for another three years. The Overland runs from Melbourne to Adelaide twice a week when the border is open.
Two weeks ago, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was scorned by South Australians for asking "Why would you want to go there?" during a press conference.
It's not a rhetorical question, but one with many perfectly valid answers if you live in Western Victoria. The bigger question here is: "What do you have to do to go there?".
On Tuesday, Mr Andrews' South Australian counterpart Steven Marshall announced the state border with Victoria would not reopen on July 20 as previously planned, out of concerns over the spike in coronavirus cases predominantly in the suburbs of Melbourne.
With neither side of the border having recorded any cases for several months, residents are hoping more exemptions might be on the cards.
Over in the West they are in no hurry, with the WA government saying Victoria must reduce its coronavirus community transmission to virtually zero before they'll be allowed in, while the sunshine state said everyone except Victorians are welcome back.
- In case you are interested in filtering your pandemic coverage down to just twice a day, why not sign up for The Informer newsletter?
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