Residents living on the Victorian and South Australian border are breathing a sigh of relief after a new emergency declaration scales back some cross-border travel requirements.
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From October 22, cross-border community members will no longer be required to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test with seven days to enter South Australia.
Anyone living with 70km of the South Australian border is considered a cross-border community member for the purposes of interstate travel, excluding Portland.
Victorian cross-border community members are still required to have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to travel into South Australia.
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Cross Border Call Out founder Paula Gust said the rule change was a welcome relief.
"Everyone is thrilled of course," she said.
"I don't think the government provided enough staffing for the requirement of weekly testing. They have a massive amount of traffic that comes through - cross-border community members and others.
"I don't believe that they set it up to be a very fluid process. I dare say that there were a lot of people running late to work or leaving early so that they could keep up with that."
Ms Gust said the cross-border residents' group now hoped the South Australian government would reconsider the 70km border corridor with Victoria.
The new rules came into effect on Friday, during South Australian Premier Steven Marshall's visit to Mount Gambier.
Mr Marshall said the state will consider the further easing of border restrictions as vaccination rates increase in both South Australia and Victoria.
"We will be looking at easing the border restrictions soon, certainly before Christmas," he said.
"We don't take it lightly and we don't want it in at the moment, so there are some pretty heavy restrictions on people coming in from Victoria, also New South Wales and the ACT."
For more information on cross-border travel requirements, visit https://www.covid-19.sa.gov.au/restrictions-and-responsibilities/travel-restrictions/cross-border-communities.
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