Coronavirus Qld: Latest Covid update as NSW outbreak escalates

Queensland has backdated its NSW hotspot declaration meaning anyone who has been in a Sydney hotspot since June 11 must abide by their lockdown rules. And if you’re not back in Queensland now, you may face hotel quarantine.

Queensland has backdated its NSW hotspot declaration, meaning anyone in Queensland who has been in four Sydney local government areas since June 11 must follow the same lockdown rules imposed in those places.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the changes will affect anyone in Queensland who has been in Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick and the City of Sydney since June 11.

“If you have been to one of the four local government areas, from 1am tomorrow, 26 June, you must stay where you are and only leave for the permitted purposes,” Dr Young said.

“But I’m asking you to be sensible – if you’re one of these people, please don’t rush off to another location on holiday – if you do, you’ll still need to follow these rules wherever you are.”

Dr Young has backdated the hotspot declaration to June 11, meaning any Queensland residents returning home after 1am tomorrow who have been in the hotspots in the past 14 days will go into hotel quarantine.

Any other travellers who have been in these hotspot LGAs in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland except for a limited range of essential reasons.

Queensland recorded two new cases of community transmission overnight, both in quarantine.

Both new cases are linked to the Portuguese Community Centre.

Dr Young said the partner of the Portuguese restaurant manager and a person who spent the day with the flight attendant were the two new cases.

“They have been in quarantine their entire infectious period,” she said.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Picture: Dan Peled

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the state was monitoring the situation in New South Wales.

“It appears to continue to be largely contained to the Greater Sydney area,” he said.

NSW Health has this morning confirmed the caseload attached to the Sydney cluster grew by an additional 22 overnight.

Dr Young said police have been implementing random intercepts and monitoring people crossing the border, with 186 people from Sydney who attempted to enter the state turned away on Thursday.

She also suggested those with travel plans in NSW should consider cancelling and looking for alternative options in the Sunshine State.

“I believe at this stage anyone in Queensland needs to reconsider if they need to travel to New South Wales,” she said.

“Perhaps they should think about holidaying in Queensland.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Queenslanders needed to remain vigilant to maintain low levels of restrictions.

“As we’ve seen what is happening in New South Wales, this has now been transmitted to Victoria,” she said.

“We need to be cautious and we need to ensure we’re doing the right thing by ourselves and by our community by getting those tests done.

“We want to see our testing levels stay high.”

Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Dr Young said the two new cases had been in quarantine.

There are now seven cases linked to the flight attendant cluster.

Dr Young said anyone travelling into Queensland from anywhere in Australia needed to fill out a border declaration pass prior to travelling.

As the situation in Sydney worsens, concrete walls could be re-established at Queensland’s border with New South Wales amid fears Greater Sydney residents could escape to the north of the state.

Dr Young on Thursday said she was more concerned about the current outbreak in Sydney than she had “ever been” because of its potential to “rapidly escalate”.

Queensland recorded three new cases of community transmission linked to the flight attendant who tested positive after dining at a Brisbane restaurant this week.

It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday delivered a surprise offer to pay for a purpose-built quarantine facility next to Brisbane Airport to help get Australians home faster and limit further outbreaks.

The old sheds at the Damascus Barracks on Sugarmill Rd, Eagle Farm, where a quarantine camp could be built by the end of the year.

The surprise offer came in a letter to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday night, and has the potential to end the bitter stalemate over the Wellcamp proposal at Toowoomba.

In response on Friday morning, Dr Young said a quarantine site would be something that needed to be explored.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles added that a quarantine facility could have already been built by now.

“I just think it’s a shame that it’s taken this long to get any level of engagement,” he said.

He said a quarantine camp at Pinkenba was considered and ruled out.

Ms D’Ath said there had been more than 80,000 vaccinations this week.