Queensland will reopen its borders to all of New South Wales on December 1, as both states continue their successful battles against the coronavirus pandemic.
Finally.
Speaking to reporters this morning, QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed the hard border between the states will drop next Tuesday.
From that date, visitors from NSW won’t have to spend 14 days in mandatory coronavirus quarantine.
“Now is the time, if you live in New South Wales, come to Queensland, start planning that holiday,” Palaszczuk said.
“We would love to have your business. It means jobs for Queenslanders. And as you know, Queensland, ‘beautiful one day, perfect the next.’”
Queensland will also open to Victoria on the same date, should that state continue its long (and extremely promising) streak of no new cases.
It’s been 28 days since New South Wales had an unlinked case. Victoria passes the 28-day mark tomorrow. All going well it too should be open at 1am on December 1.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) November 24, 2020
On the potential for the border to open with South Australia, which recently experienced a spike in case numbers, Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said, “we just have to see what happens in that first incubation period.”
Queensland closed its borders to the entirety of NSW and the ACT in early August over fears of COVID-19 community transmission.
Folks from regional NSW were welcomed back to QLD a little while back, but punters from the Greater Sydney region were still effectively walled off.
The border’s reopening has been an issue of contention between both states, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian openly calling for their northern neighbour to fling the doors wide open.
