Annalink OSHCstudents – Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has declared Greater Brisbane a hotspot and ordered a three-day lockdown in the wake of a growing coronavirus cluster.
The Greater Brisbane area includes the local governments of Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan and Redlands.
States and territories across Australia have reacted to the outbreak with increased border restrictions for either Greater Brisbane or all Queensland travellers.
Queensland
Greater Brisbane will be in lockdown for three days from 5:00pm local time on Monday.
Ms Palaszczuk said restrictions would be reviewed on Wednesday evening.
Anyone who was in Greater Brisbane on or since Saturday, March 20 but has since left must follow the same lockdown rules as Greater Brisbane.
Greater Brisbane residents must wear masks outside the home and can only leave home for one of four reasons:
- To buy essentials such as groceries or medications
- To work or study if you can’t do either from home
- To exercise in your local area
- To seek healthcare, or to provide help, care or support
Cafes and restaurants will be open for takeaway service only.
Schools in locked-down areas will remain open for children of essential workers.
For the rest of Queensland, masks should be worn while indoors except at home and household gatherings limited to 30 people.
Aged care, correctional centres, hospitals and disability service providers will be closed to visitors across the state.
Queensland COVID-19 snapshot:
- Confirmed cases so far: 1,456
- Deaths: 6
- Tests conducted: 2,147,661
- Active cases: 73
New South Wales
New South Wales Health is advising people against non-essential travel to the Greater Brisbane area.
Anyone with even the mildest of symptoms in the Byron Bay area — which was visited by two infectious people from the Brisbane cluster — is urged to get tested for COVID-19 and self-isolate immediately.
Anyone who has been in Greater Brisbane since March 20 must comply with the same stay-at-home restrictions that apply to Greater Brisbane.
This means they have to stay at home, except for essential reasons, like food shopping, work, medical care and excercise.
Travellers arriving in NSW must complete a self-declaration form if they have been in the Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redland local government areas in the previous 14 days.
This form must be completed regardless of how you cross the border and either before or upon entry to NSW.
Travellers who have visited a “close contact venue” in Queensland must not enter or transit through NSW unless they are a NSW resident.
Those returning residents must immediately get tested and self-isolate.
Victoria
Victoria has declared Greater Brisbane a “red zone” under its strict permit system, which applies to anyone who has travelled to the area since March 12.
Only people with a permit will be allowed in.
That means Victorians returning home must get tested within 72 hours and observe 14 days of home quarantine.
The Gladstone Region of Queensland and the Byron Shire in northern New South Wales have been designated as orange zones.
Anyone visiting those areas since March 26 must isolate, get a coronavirus test within 72 hours and stay in isolation until they get a negative result.
Western Australia
Western Australia will impose a hard border with Queensland from 12:01am on Tuesday, March 30.
This means travellers from Queensland will only be permitted to enter if they are granted an exemption through the G2G PASS.
Anyone who arrived from Queensland from Saturday, March 27 will need to self-quarantine and present for a COVID test.
This also applies to travellers who may have been in Queensland since March 27 and has not completed 14 days in a “very low risk” state or territory.
Anyone who has arrived in WA from Queensland between Saturday, March 20 and Friday, March 26 will continue to be contacted by WA Police with the latest advice about new Queensland and Byron Bay exposure sites.
Tasmania
Tasmania has declared the Greater Brisbane area as high-risk and will not allow anyone travelling from there to enter the state without quarantining for up to two weeks.
Queensland travellers already in Tasmania who had been in Brisbane or Moreton Bay on or after Monday, March 8 are asked to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.
South Australia
South Australia imposed a hard border with Greater Brisbane at 4:00pm on Monday, March 29.
Only South Australians, essential workers or people genuinely relocating are allowed to enter the state.
They are required to do 14 days of quarantine and be tested for COVID-19.
Anyone who arrived from the Greater Brisbane area since March 20 must get tested and remain isolated until their test result comes back negative.
Northern Territory
The Nothern Territory government declared six Queensland hotspots — most of them in Greater Brisbane — on Tuesday afternoon.
It means anyone who arrives in the NT from Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Redland City, Moreton Bay and Toowoomba from 4:30pm CST will have to undertake two weeks of supervised quarantine.
Earlier today, the government also broadened testing requirements for Queensland arrivals.
Anyone who arrived in the NT from March 25 onwards after being in Ipswich, Logan City, Redland City or Gladstone must enter self-isolation and get tested for coronavirus in the next 72 hours.
Additionally, anyone who arrived in the NT after March 27 and visited the Byron Shire beforehand, or was in Toowoomba between March 26 and 29, will also need a test.
People who arrived in the NT from the Brisbane and the Moreton Bay region from Saturday, March 20 had also been given the same order.
ACT
The ACT has declared Greater Brisbane a coronavirus hotspot.
From 6:00pm on Monday, March 29, if you have returned from Greater Brisbane between March 11 and March 4, you should get tested and isolate until you receive a negative result.
If you returned from Greater Brisbane on March 15, you need to self-isolate until at least 6:00pm on Thursday, April 1. ACT Health says this may be extended to 14 days.
Annalink OSHCstudents (According to abc)
