Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk makes border decision
Sydneysiders will remain locked out, despite Queensland reopening its borders to the rest of NSW. Victorians are still also unable to travel to Queensland.
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Queensland will remain shut off to Greater Sydney and Victoria.
While the rest of NSW will be allowed into the Sunshine State from 1am on November 3, Sydneysiders will be shut out, as will Victorians, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has revealed at a press conference this morning.
It means residents from 32 local government areas of Sydney will remain blocked from entering Queensland.
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The local LGAs banned include: Bayside, Blacktown, Burwood, Camden, Campbelltown, Canada Bay, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Hornsby, Hunters Hill, Inner West, Ku-Ring-Gai, Lane Cove, Liverpool, Mosman, Nth Sydney, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Randwick, Ryde, Strathfield, Sutherland Shire, Sydney, The Hills Shire, Waverley, Willoughby, Wollondilly, Woolhara, Sydney Harbour.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said people in Greater Sydney will be allowed into Queensland provided they have spent at least 14 days out of the NSW hotspots without testing positive.
If unlinked cases appear in other NSW LGAs, Queensland Health would consider declaring those LGAs as hotspots as well.
NSW residents in the expanded border bubble will be permitted to travel into Queensland via Sydney Airport but will need to travel through Sydney without stopping.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian called the news “disappointing”.
Dr Young said Queensland would wait to see what happens when Victoria’s lockdown ends before making a decision about that state.
Ms Palaszczuk said she has accepted Dr Young’s health advice to make today’s border call.
“I kept my commitment, I’m honest to the people of Queensland...I’ve accepted her recommendations to me, lock, stock and barrel,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“We have always said as a National Cabinet that families can be reunited around Christmas time, but once again, anything can happen.”
“I am the Premier of Queensland, and I will look after the people of Queensland...if I am re-elected that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Asked whether the Chief Health Officer had provided any other options, Ms Palaszczuk said it was the only option given.
“And I accepted it, lock, stock and barrel,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said she understood the situation was tough for business and especially for tourism, and said the government had given industry a lot of financial assistance.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it would take extra time for the border change to take effect, on the advice of Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski.
Mr Miles used the announcement to attack Opposition leader Deb Frecklington, accusing Ms Frecklington of only listening to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, rather than health advice.
Dr Young said she had reviewed the situation in NSW, and prior to yesterday had four local government areas in Sydney that had unlinked community transmission.
On Thursday, NSW had recorded four new cases, one unlinked and the remaining three linked to that case.
“Based on that new information yesterday, and the information up to that point, I believe it’s important that Queensland remains closed to those 32 LGAs in Sydney,” she said.
She said NSW had done well, but the biggest risk was still the south-western part of Sydney.
Dr Young said the new locally transmitted cases of coronavirus in NSW were the justification for the state’s continued border closure.
“One of those cases they could not link to any known clusters, the other three cases were linked to that case,” she said.
Dr Young has consistently said the trigger to opening the border to NSW was when the state had 28 days of no community transmission.
She said Queensland was pursuing a suppression strategy, rather than an elimination strategy.
“Our borders do get crossed from international places, and now the world is over 43 million cases...so we know we’ll see more cases in hotel quarantine, that’s a risk,” she said.
But she said there had not been a breach in hotel quarantine in Queensland because of the good work of the state’s police, unlike what had happened in NSW, VIC and Auckland.
Dr Young said if there was one unlinked case in regional NSW, it could possibly trigger closing off that local government area.
“One unlinked case (in NSW) means there is a problem,” she said.
“There’s nothing hard and fast about this pandemic, unfortunately.
“Until there’s either a vaccine or an effective treatment ... we are going to have to have to maintain these restrictions,” Dr Young said.
The border changes come as Queensland records one new case of COVID-19 overnight: a man in his 50s who returned from Stockholm and was in hotel quarantine.
COVID-19 fragments have also been detected in Wynnum, with the state’s Chief Health Officer warning that there is a concern of ”virus circulating” in the state.
“Anyone who lives in that Ipswich area or who lives in Wynnum, it’s really important in particular that you come forward and get tests,” Dr Young said.