Thousands of trapped Queenslanders to be allowed in under secret home quarantine trial starting next week

Queensland Health has specially selected some returning residents to participate in a secret home quarantine trial starting next week. They just have to meet one important criteria. FULL DETAILS

An exclusive club of Queenslanders trapped interstate will be allowed to go into home quarantine, with health authorities secretly canvassing residents to join a new trial.

About 3000 Queensland residents desperately trying to return home from hot spots were still waiting for their border pass to be granted, with hotel quarantine requirements creating a serious bottleneck.

But from October 11, some of those residents will be allowed to go back to their homes in Queensland and quarantine for 14 days, under an expansion of a home quarantine trial initially offered to minors.

Who draws the lucky straw depends on a number of factors, and the eligibility rules before getting in the door are strict.

Firstly, only those formally “invited” to participate in the trial by Queensland Health will be sent the application forms.

And in order to be part of the trial the home Queenslanders quarantine in will have to be in one of the eight southeast Queensland local government areas.

Those are Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Ipswich, Logan, Gold Coast, and the Redlands excluding its adjoining islands.

Home quarantine trial participants can only come into Brisbane by air and be prepared to return after October 11.

Gold Coast man Stephen Tremain in quarantine in Brisbane after returning home in regional NSW for his mum's funeral. He arrived in Brisbane three hours after the Queensland quarantine caps were imposed. Picture supplied.

But it’s tough luck for anyone living in an apartment, with Queensland Health forms showing a “suitable” home quarantine site must be a “freestanding” private dwelling with no shared common areas accessible by other people.

“A freestanding dwelling may include a duplex or townhouse where there are no shared common areas and entry to the property is separate from other dwellings,” the form stated.

“It does not include temporary commercial accommodation (for example, a holiday rental or Air BnB).

“It does not include an apartment or hotel room.”

Those undertaking the home quarantine trial will have to declare that the house is decked out with enough food and provisions for 14 days before they arrive there.

They must also turn up to get tested four times by going to a drive-through clinic in their own car on day 1, 5, 12 and 14 of quarantine.

Anyone who normally lives at the home must either agree to also go into quarantine or live somewhere else for two weeks.

If they choose to quarantine, they will need to be tested on day 12.

The Pacific Hotel on the corner of the Cairns Esplanade and Spence Street has been a designated quarantine hotel since March but shock new figures show a backlog of more than 8300 border pass applications and just 245 hotel quarantine rooms available in the state. Picture: Brendan Radke

People in home quarantine will be tracked with a check-in app, meaning a smart phone is a must.

“When participating in Home Quarantine Check In, you will receive and need to respond to daily text messages to demonstrate compliance with home quarantine requirements,” Queensland Health stated in an email.

“The text message will also include questions about your wellbeing and health and depending on your answers may prompt additional support.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had on Sunday flagged the expansion of a home quarantine trial, saying she was waiting on data from the first phase of the trial.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said authorities wanted to “tweak” the compliance monitoring app before the trial was broadened.