Queensland will close its borders to anyone travelling from the greater Sydney region from 1am this Saturday, August 1, as the city fights to contain growing coronavirus clusters in the community.
QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed the drastic measure Wednesday morning, effectively declaring all of greater Sydney a coronavirus hotspot.
BREAKING: Queensland will close its borders to all of Greater Sydney. From 1am Saturday, more hotspots will be declared and no one from Sydney will be allowed into Queensland. #COVID19au pic.twitter.com/044iZeTZ1g
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 29, 2020
Queensland residents returning from the city after that date will be required to undertake a 14-day hotel quarantine period at their own expense, Palaszczuk said.
The state had already declared three of Sydney’s local government areas – Liverpool, Fairfield, and Campbelltown – as coronavirus hotspots, after concerns about case numbers in those regions.
NSW recorded 19 new COVID-19 cases overnight.
Queensland’s big decision will bring greater Sydney in line with the entire state of Victoria, which the state effectively walled off earlier this month.
The shock move comes as QLD Police investigate how two women, who recently returned from Melbourne before testing COVID-19 positive, evaded self-isolation requirements.
Fronting the media this morning, Palaszczuk said she was “absolutely furious” about the development.
More to come.
