![Andrew Barr. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong Andrew Barr. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc7b4xjqnzn911fjm3ejzd.jpg/r0_285_5338_3286_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Canberrans who are visiting Melbourne should reconsider their travel plans if they are going near known coronavirus hotspots, the ACT Chief Minister says.
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While Andrew Barr said travelling to other areas of the state still had a level of risk, he stopped short of calling for ACT residents not to cross the border into Victoria.
"People living [in the hotspots] should not be leaving," Mr Barr said on Tuesday.
"The identified hotspots, ones both the Commonwealth chief health officer and the Victorian chief health officer have identified, are ones that are best avoided at this time.
"I would encourage those who made plans not to go into those parts of Melbourne."
Victorian health authorities have identified multiple areas of Melbourne where there have been large levels of community transmission of COVID-19, after a spike in the number of new cases in recent days. The hotspots have been identified in council areas including Moreland, Brimbank, Hume, Casey, Cardinia and Darebin.
On Tuesday, Victorian health authorities said they recorded 17 new cases of COVID-19 in the previous 24 hours, with a week of double-digit increases leading to fears of a potential second wave.
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With school holidays approaching, Mr Barr said families with holiday plans should rethink their travel if they are going near affected parts of Melbourne.
"There are many places elsewhere in Australia where the borders are open where people can travel to if people didn't want to spend time in Canberra in July," he said. "There are other parts of Victoria that are less risky."
Mr Barr's comments on travel plans to Victoria differed from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who called on tourism operators in the state to avoid contact with travellers from Melbourne to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
Earlier in the week she told people in NSW to avoid any travel to Melbourne as the number of new coronavirus cases in Victoria surged.
Mr Barr said the number of new cases in Victoria was a sign that the pandemic was far from over.
"All it takes is for one infected person to start a new chain of infection, and that is what Victoria is experiencing," he said.
"There are going to be these localised outbreaks and we need to be careful.
"There's been a lot of commentary over the course that the ACT has been taking with easing restrictions, but we have done so gradually and carefully to avoid a situation that Victoria is finding itself in."