South Australia and Queensland have become the latest states to close their borders to greater Sydney as the Northern Beaches cluster continues to grow.
Obviously, this will further fuck up many people’s Christmas and New Year’s Eve plans, however it’s what needs to be done to stop things getting out of control like pretty much everywhere else in the world.
On Sunday morning, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said that from midnight on Sunday, anyone from Sydney’s Northern Beaches won’t be allowed into the state at all, and anyone from anywhere else in greater Sydney would have to get tested and quarantine for 14 days.
“Any person who is not in South Australia presently who has been in one or more of the prohibited locations during the listed dates/times is not permitted to travel to South Australia at this time, unless they meet one of the Essential Traveller criteria,” SA Health announced.
People from regional NSW are still good to travel, although they’ll have to get tested upon arrival in South Australia.
The state’s Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier added: “I know that there is a risk when you have this nasty virus in your state but I truly believe that we have gone above and beyond to make this as safe as possible for South Australian is because I can tell you that I, personally, do not want to go through another Parafield cluster.”
In Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced something even more strict on Sunday afternoon.
“From 1 AM tomorrow, if you are a New South Wales resident in greater Sydney, please do not come to Queensland,” she said.
“This is very similar to what the Victorian Premier also announced today.
“Secondly, if you are a Queenslander and you are in Greater Sydney, please return home quickly. We will allow you to come back until 1 AM Tuesday, but you will be required to have a test and to quarantine at home.”
Like South Australia, people entering Queensland after tomorrow will need an exemption permit.
“We also have been advised that there are now 50 close contacts in Queensland who have been in contact with people who have tested positive New South Wales,” Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said.
“That has gone from 11 to 15 today and New South Wales are assisting Queensland and getting those details, we are contact tracing those individuals, they will get tested and will have to go to quarantine.”
“We want today, from today, to be the reset trigger for Queensland. Let’s not wait until we have community transmission again before we act, COVID-19 is as contagious today as it was at the start of 2020.”
These states follow Western Australia and Victoria implementing similar measures, all in an attempt to contain the Sydney Northern Beaches cluster as quickly as possible.
Tasmania is also requiring people to quarantine, with Premier Peter Gutwein saying that “going hard and going early is the best defence.”
Shitty timing, but it had to be done.
