Qld-NSW border bubble as residents told to stay at home

Queensland’s border bubble with NSW has burst, with health officials in that state requiring any resident who has travelled into Queensland’s lockdown zone to stay at home for 14 days.

Queensland’s border “bubble” with NSW has burst, plunging tens of thousands of people into turmoil.

NSW Health has imposed a new order requiring any resident who has been in any of the 11 South East Queensland local government areas covered by the lockdown to stay at home for 14 days.

It means northern NSW residents, including those living in the populous Tweed region, cannot technically cross the border into Queensland for work, medical appointments or study without having to isolate.

Traffic at the New South Wales-Queensland border at Coolangatta. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Queensland had a “border zone” in place for Sunshine State residents who had to cross into northern NSW for work or other essential reasons.

But a NSW Health spokeswoman said there was no reciprocal arrangement and all NSW residents were subject to the new “concerns notice” issued after South East Queensland went into lockdown last week.

The notice requires any NSW residents who have been into the 11 LGAs – which include the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane – to immediately return home and not leave for 14 days “except reasonable excuse”.

“Reasonable excuses” include work and essential shopping, but the spokeswoman said these could not be performed in South East Queensland.

“A person must comply with the stay at home rules for 14 days since they were last in an affected LGA, or until the notice is revoked,” NSW Health said.

“People will only be permitted to leave their places of residence with a reasonable excuse, being shopping, medical care, caregiving, outdoor exercise with a member of your household or one other person, and work or education, if you cannot do it from home.

“People subject to the stay-at-home measures in Queensland should not be travelling to NSW unless they are permitted to do so.”

Any NSW residents who have visited one of the dozens of ‘high concern’ exposure sites in South East Queensland have been ordered to self-isolate for 14 days.

NSW has exemptions in place for residents living near the Victorian border but no such arrangements are in place with Queensland.

Tweed MP Geoff Provest said his office had been inundated with calls from worried locals and was “not happy” with NSW Health.

“I’m extremely disappointed in NSW Health because there has been no consultation or consideration for border residents, many of whom travel to the Gold Coast for work or medical appointments,” he said.

“I’ve made representations and complained quite strongly to the deputy premier about this situation.

“There’s a lot of confusion and concern in the community.”

Mr Provest said his own family was caught up in the chaos, with his wife working at John Flynn Hospital on the southern Gold Coast.