Queensland closes borders to Greater Sydney as Covid-19 cases grow

Queensland’s borders have been slammed shut to more than six million people in NSW as a cluster of the highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant continues to grow.

Queensland has slammed its border shut to more than six million people in NSW as concerns mount over the spread of the highly contagious Covid-19 Delta variant.

A fearful Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young on Wednesday night declared Greater Sydney, the NSW Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour as hotspots, citing the emergence of 16 new cases south of the border.

“The sharp rise of cases in Sydney ... is extremely concerning due to many of these cases being infected by fleeting contact,” Dr Young said.

“The Delta variant is much more contagious than other variants and we do not want it circulating in Queensland.

“I know this is difficult timing with school holidays coming up, but my priority is to ensure the health and safety of Queenslanders.”

Cars line up for Covid-19 testing at Bondi in Sydney. Picture: Joel Carrett

There are already more than 120 exposure venues across Sydney, with fleeting close contact between cases leading to transmission in as little as “five to 10 seconds”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the Delta variant as of “grave concern”.

“This Friday we’ll be easing even more restrictions across Queensland and we cannot afford to have this Delta variant out in our community,” she said.

Queensland joins Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT in restricting travel from NSW.

WA and SA have implemented hard border shutouts.

Melanie Hegarty from Capalaba got out of Sydney just in time with her one-year-old boy Cruze, booking flights after the border was initially closed to six NSW local government areas on Wednesday morning.

“We were down in Sydney visiting my parents and were meant to be there for the week but obviously we were like, nope, time to fly home so we booked a flight at 10:30am,” she said.

“We are lucky we got out, (being stuck in Sydney) with the little one is just too hard.”

Deep cleaners commence work at St Charles Catholic Primary School at Waverley in Sydney after a confirmed case of Covid-19. Picture: Joel Carrett

The Sydney clampdown is another devastating blow to the Queensland tourism industry just days out from the vital winter school holidays.

NSW, and Sydney in particular, is Queensland’s biggest interstate market and tourism operators are now frantically trying to make up lost ground following a wave of last-minute cancellations.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said the escalating situation gripping Sydney was a “tragedy”.

“We’re seeing operators who had been planning for a busy holiday period suddenly thrown into disarray,” he said.

“We’re talking about big chunks of money that will just go missing as a result of this latest cluster just days before the school holidays.

“It’s affecting holiday makers, operators, people who want to be able to get away for a number of reasons – it’s a real tragedy all-round.”

People arriving at Brisbane Airport from Sydney before lockdown. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Dr Young said she would not backdate her Sydney direction, meaning anyone from the declared hotspots would be free to move about Queensland if they entered the state before 1am Thursday.

However, she urged anyone across the state who had symptoms to get tested and isolate.

“Although we’re hopeful that we have our latest cluster in hand, we know how quickly these things can get out of hand,” she said.

“We’re coming into our traditional winter flu season so there will be more people with flu-like symptoms out there.

“It’s really important that you don’t just assume that it is whatever your child has brought home from childcare or that it is anything else. We know how quickly these things get out of hand.”

Sydneysiders have been warned to expect increased Queensland police spot checks and patrols along the state’s borders.

“There will be a lot more random intercepts,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Queensland yesterday recorded one new case of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in a person who had recently returned from Zambia.

The state has recorded 1674 known cases of the virus since the start of the pandemic, with 35 remaining active.