Queensland joins NT and WA in toughening border rules with SA as Covid cases grow

Queensland has become the latest state to crackdown on arrivals from SA after cases here increased on Friday and included the first community transmission case in 19 months.

Queensland has declared Greater Adelaide a hotspot in response to the growing Omicron numbers.

Arrival restrictions will come into place on Sunday morning.

“Anyone who has been in Greater Adelaide since 1am on the 28th of November who arrives in Queensland after 1am tomorrow will be required to go into 14 days mandatory home or hotel quarantine,” Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’ath said on Saturday.

“They are required to be fully vaccinated.”

Ms D’ath said incoming travellers from Adelaide would not be required to have a negative PCR test.

“What we do require is them to get a test as soon as they possibly can,” she said.

“Anyone arriving after 1am Monday the 6th of December, you will need to receive a negative Covid PCR test result in 72 hours prior to arrival, as well as being fully vaccinated.”

Earlier, SA was declared “red zone” by NT authorities after the state hit 35 Covid cases since borders reopened, including one mystery community transmission.

An infectious Adelaide woman tested positive for Covid while she was en route to Darwin.

NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the woman took a test before her departure in Adelaide but it came back positive while she was flying.

“As soon as she landed in Darwin she and her children were transported to the centre for national resilience,” he said.

He said there would be close contacts from the flight but given the wider community spread of Covid in SA “we have decided to declare SA a red zone for the purpose of travel to the Northern Territory – this is effective from 8pm”.

Arrivals from SA will be required to undertake seven days home quarantine on their arrival with additional testing requirements.

It comes after WA reimposed a hard border with SA from Friday.

SA is now classified as a moderate-risk jurisdiction and only travellers with exemptions can enter WA.

West Australians who travelled to South Australia and will need a negative Covid test 72 hours before travelling, be fully vaccinated, and hotel quarantine for 14 days.

Premier Steven Marshall on Friday morning said he was disappointed but not surprised about WA Premier Mark McGowan’s decision.

“I think that was inevitable to be quite honest,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.

“They’ve had a different approach over in Western Australia to the national cabinet.

”So it’s obviously disappointing for people that are wanting to go into Western Australia, that’s now not going to proceed.”

Mr McGowan raised SA’s travel risk to medium, meaning travellers are banned from WA unless they have an exemption.

“Obviously, what’s occurred there is quite concerning,” Mr McGowan said.

“What we’ve done differently to South Australia is we’ve waited to higher levels of vaccination before such time as we lifted our border arrangements and that’s a safety measure to keep people safe to ensure we avoid further lockdowns and social measures, and get the West Australian community through Christmas and through the New Year period.”

SA recorded four new cases on Friday, including one additional case linked to the Theatre Bugs event in Norwood taking the total number linked to that event to 17.

Premier Steven Marshall has been holding his nerve about opening the borders, saying the case numbers so far were at the “lower end” of the modelling, however SA authorities will meet today and look set to shut the state’s borders to NSW and Victoria amid fears of a worrying spread of the new Omicron variant.