They have been crucial in keeping coronavirus out of the state for a long period now, forcing down the lid on a pandemic which looked every chance of getting out of control at the height of the North-West outbreak.

Premier Peter Gutwein's approach has broadly been correct, although arrangements for fly-in, fly-out workers and people with dire personal needs to come to the state have left much to be desired.

But, now, there is no logical reason to have closed borders with any other jurisdiction except Victoria.

Further, given the great strides Victoria has made in getting its outbreak under control - just five new cases reported on Monday and 10 on Tuesday - it is likely that state will be safe as houses within a month.

There were no new cases reported in any other state or territory on Monday and the nation had just 455 active cases (down by 50 since Sunday).

As long as Victoria continues to make progress and, crucially, as long as quarantine measures for people arriving from overseas are maintained effectively, there would seem no reason to maintain a hard Tasmanian border against the mainland for much longer.

Mr Gutwein often says he is acting on public health advice.

That's fine, but the buck stops with him in reality, and in the minds of voters.

In a political sense, it has worked in his favour to date, with sky-high approval ratings a for a job mostly very well done.

However, as maintaining a hard border becomes increasingly illogical and Tasmanians increasingly turn their minds to economic recovery, the Premier's shining armour could rust away very quickly if he holds onto restrictions well past their use by date.

The next stage - again, assuming continued Victorian progress - should be making Australia one big Tasmania, as in opening all internal borders, but keeping a very tight rein on international arrivals.

At least until an effective vaccine is found and widely used.