Qld coronavirus: Annastacia Palaszczuk closes border to NSW
A traveller from a Sydney coronavirus hot spot has been turned around at Gold Coast Airport as Queensland prepares to close its borders to NSW and the ACT.
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Another passenger has been turned around at Gold Coast Airport as Queensland prepares to shut its border to NSW and ACT.
The passenger, believed to be from a Sydney hotspot, became the latest of 14 people refused entry at the airport since the border reopened on July 10.
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Flights from Sydney to the Gold Coast have been cancelled since the Harbour City was declared a COVID hotspot last weekend, but there are still flights from destinations including Newcastle.
Another 33 people were turned around at Gold Coast border road checkpoints, where almost 1000 people have been refused entry since last month.
Queensland will slam the border shut to NSW and the ACT as the Sunshine State recorded one new case of coronavirus.
All visitors from NSW and the ACT will be barred entry to Queensland from 1am on Saturday, August 8, after Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young declared the state and territory a COVID-19 hotspot.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had said she would not hesitate to close the border again if it became necessary.
“That moment has arrived,” she said.
Likewise, Queenslanders have been told not to leave the state.
Ms Palaszczuk acknowledged the move would be tough for Queenslanders, but that it was about putting the state first and came after listening to the concerns of Queenslanders.
She confirmed a new case overnight – a 68-year-old woman in the Ipswich-based West Moreton area, saying the case was still under investigation.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said Queensland now had 11 active cases, with the source of the latest case unknown.
He said the state had gone more than two months with no community transmission, but that had all changed seven days ago.
“We’ve seen in other states that it can only take one case to see a widespread community outbreak,” he said.
He conceded there would be some critics of the border closure, but insisted it was one of the strongest tools in stopping the spread of the virus.
Mr Miles said authorities had seen people lying on their border passes from across the state.
“It is clear now that Australia is experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 and we cannot afford to have that second wave in Queensland,” he said.
He said Queensland could not risk its economic recovery.
“We are doing the right thing to keep Queenslanders safe,” he said.
“This is a hard closure. The road border between Queensland and NSW will be closed to all but a limited number of exemptions, freight and those who live in border communities.”
People entering the state will have to show photo identification and Queenslanders who are interstate have been told they should come home.
Those with plans to leave the state should cancel them.
Mr Miles said the border restrictions would be reviewed at the end of the month.
He said they would cause inconvenience but nothing compared to the inconvenience of life in Victoria right now, or the inconvenience of having to increase restrictions within Queensland.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said Queensland Health was following up the new case to find out how the woman may have contracted the virus.
Dr Young said Queenslanders who needed to travel would need to go into hotel quarantine on their return, with very few exceptions.
“As of 1am Saturday, Queenslanders coming home will have to fly into Queensland and if they have cars, organise alternative arrangements,” she said.
They would also be able to travel across the NT border.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said everyone would be stopped and turned around unless they had exemptions.
He said the vast majority of people had been doing the right thing, but there was “clearly” a small number of people purposely doing the wrong thing.
“While those numbers are small, the risk is too high,” he said.
“The message to all the other people who don’t qualify for the exemption, don’t come,” Mr Gollschewski said.
He said a number of investigations had been sparked by public tip-offs.
“Clearly the community has had enough of this,” he said.
Ms Palaszczuk said she didn’t want to see a second wave in Queensland.
She said NSW authorities were clearly “on edge”, with masks being recommended.
“We have seen people deliberately flouting the law to gain entry into Queensland,” she said.
“We cannot put Queenslanders at risk.”
She said Victoria had more active cases in aged care than Queensland had recorded in total.
Admitting it was “going to be tough” for some small businesses, she said it would be “even more catastrophic” to have to close businesses because of a second wave.
“This is a life and death situation here,” she said. “... Look what’s happening in Victoria. People can’t even see their loved ones who are dying in nursing homes.”
She said it was “too important” Queensland could not afford a collapse of its economy, especially if things worsened in NSW and Australia had to rely on Queensland for goods, like groceries.
“This is going to be tough for a couple of months, but we are in a world pandemic,” she said.
“It is getting worse, it is not getting better.”
The Premier said there would be a border community exemption pass, and photographic ID would be required.
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed the three men who had returned from Victoria into Logan had tested negative to COVID, but would be having a follow-up test.
She said she was also considering Schoolies and said the state should not be having mass gatherings, but smaller events might be possible.
Dr Young said waits for test results were varying across the state.
“It can go anywhere from a few hours, up to seven days,” she said.
Dr Young said the case of the returned traveller to Toowoomba had been referred to police just to “double check” the documents were correct.
He had travelled as a consular official but was later revealed to be a private security contractor.
She said she was “not an expert in fraud” but there were no suggestions that the man had acted incorrectly in any way.
Mr Gollschewski said police investigations had concluded and nothing untoward had been found.
Mr Gollschewski said “we’ve very comfortable this individual has done the right thing”.
He said there was a “system issue” that had been addressed by the government, which has now removed hotel quarantine exemptions for consular officials.
It comes a day after it was revealed three men had travelled to Victoria and allegedly failed to disclose so on their border declaration.
Earlier, three women had allegedly done the same, and two of those were out in the community infected with COVID-19.
A man and a woman dining at a Korean restaurant at the same time as at least one of the women were also infected, sparking a nursing home scare as the woman works at the Bolton Clarke aged care home at Pinjarra Hills.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington issued a statement supporting the government’s border move.
“Queenslanders must be kept safe to protect lives and livelihoods,” she said.
“The LNP has always said the border controls are not set and forget.
“As the situation in other states changes so should our response in Queensland.
“In recent weeks it has become clear that the Palaszczuk Labor Government’s honour system at the border was not working.
“The gaps in enforcement have put Queenslanders’ lives and livelihoods at risk.
“The LNP supports stronger action on borders because we can’t risk a second wave.”