Residents who work in NSW have been unable to cross the border despite only being 14km away. Meanwhile, Corowa residents who work in Rutherglen are required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return home should they enter the town.
The chaotic situation is having direct consequences on not only businesses but has left Rutherglen with no doctors.
As of The Free Press going to print, doctors at the Corowa Medical Centre -which administers the Rutherglen Medical Centre- were unable to travel to Rutherglen without having to self-isolate for 14 days on return.
Meanwhile, Chief executive of Indigo North Health Shane Kirk confirmed with the Free Press that his staff living in NSW were able to travel to Rutherglen after the NSW government granted an exemption last Friday.
Practice Manager Kristen Mann said the strict rules imposed by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her government prevented NSW doctors from traveling between the two practices to provide basic and essential medical care to the community.
“The community of Rutherglen has been seriously disadvantaged by the strict border blue zone rules. Corowa and Rutherglen practice are one and the same and has been providing medical services across this area for over 30 years,” Ms Mann told The Free Press.
“It concerns me that the prohibitive nature of the current, and seemingly arbitrary, border zones could have long-lasting implications on the health of the community and will definitely impact the short-term care of the people of Rutherglen.
“The health of our patients with chronic and life-threatening issues is being jeopardised due to exclusion of the town,” Ms Mann said.
Despite councils along both sides of the Murray River coming together to ease some of the tough restrictions, there have been little changes in the rules for Rutherglen.
Rutherglen Newsagent Dan Taborsky said many businesses were feeling the pain.
“It’s crucifying us. Lockdown is nothing compared to this,” he said.
Mr Taborsky felt locals were paying the price for Melbourne’s second wave.
“How is it that we are still seeing people come up here from Melbourne, but we cannot travel a few minutes away?” he said.
“We had a guy come in from Cleanaway in Geelong, who happens to live in Melbourne on the weekend, come up here to collect the rubbish. He came through the door, didn’t sanitise his hands and bought a ticket.
“How is it that he can do that? We have no cases and can’t cross the border to live our daily life. It’s just ridiculous,” Mr Taborsky said.
Member for Benambra Bill Tilley said that while there had been some wins for the border communities, work would continue to include more towns into the permit zone.
“We are pushing for a special permit on the grounds of continuity of employment. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister was asked what jobs were essential. His response was “all of them”. “I agree, and that’s why we are arguing that people with jobs and businesses should be allowed to cross the river even if they live outside the permit zone,” Mr Tilley said.
Member for Albury Justin Clancy confirmed on Monday that border zone residents can apply for a new category of permit around ‘caring’ and the receipt of care.
“A person can apply for this permit so they can provide or receive care or assistance to a vulnerable person including personal care, mental health or domestic violence services and services to victims of crime,” Mr Clancy said.
“This appears when you make an application as a border zone resident,” he said.
The local Rutherglen community has made an online form for those residents willing to submit information on how the new border zones has impacted them or their business. The form can be found on the following link:
www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/8jlHLhFvwIGrMQmPEd7
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