NSW border restrictions: COVID closures for Greater Sydney residents
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says her state “loves” people from Sydney but has warned them off coming north due to the latest COVID cluster.
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Queensland has joined Victoria and the Northern Territory in closing its border to all of Greater Sydney amid fears of the COVID-19 outbreak on the northern beaches spreading.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed as of 1am Monday, any NSW resident in Greater Sydney will not be able to enter Queensland.
She has also given Queenslanders who are currently in Sydney until 1am Tuesday to get back over the border where they would be tested and allowed to quarantine at home.
“What we are seeing in NSW is of concern and when the NSW Premier says she is on high alert, we are on high alert,” she said.
“So these are border measures that are necessary.”
Ms Palaszczuk has also asked anyone who has travelled to Queensland from Greater Sydney in the past week to get a COVID-19 test.
“I think that will be peace of mind to you and your family and peace of mind to every other Queensland as well,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said there would be checkpoints put in place across the state’s borders.
“We are please asking people to do the right thing and if you are from Greater Sydney, now is not the time to travel to Queensland,” she said.
“We love you, we want you to have a peaceful Christmas at home and, hopefully, in the months to come we will be able to welcome you back to our wonderful Sunshine State. But now is not the time.”
The Northern Territory has also closed its borders to greater Sydney and the Central Coast effective immediately following the Northern Beaches COVID-19 outbreak.
Travellers who enter from those areas will be forced to undertake mandatory quarantine at a cost of $2500 per person.
Northern Territory’s Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said on Sunday afternoon about 130 people on a flight en route to Darwin from Sydney had been advised they could either return home or quarantine at Howard Springs.
“The cost of quarantine for this cohort coming in from Sydney at the moment will be waived, however any following arrivals that are coming in from Sydney will be contacted to be told if they are to arrive in the Northern Territory from these declared hotspot areas then they will have to go into quarantine and it will be at the cost of $2500 per person,” she said.
Residents in Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Nepean Blue Mountains will be forced to quarantine for two weeks if they enter the ACT from midnight.
The ACT Government has asked people from those areas not to visit, warning anyone who does come to Canberra will be forced to quarantine at home along with any other people in the household.
ACT residents are not prevented from returning, but must also self-isolate for two weeks.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also did not want Sydneysiders in his state.
“If you’re in Greater Sydney, stay in Greater Sydney,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said.
Victorian residents who are in those areas will be allowed back but will be made to self-quarantine at home, get tested, and be checked up on by authorities.
The Greater Sydney zone will be considered to stretch as far south as Wollongong, as far north as the Central Coast, and west through the Blue Mountains, Queensland’s chief medical officer said.
South Australia has also toughened its border stance, requiring 14 day quarantine for anyone arriving from Greater Sydney and barring anyone who has been to the city’s northern beaches area starting at midnight Sunday.
Testing will be mandatory for anyone coming from NSW.
The moves follow NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s announcement that the cluster had grown by 28 cases to a total of 68.
There are also two other new cases among people who live in the Northern Beaches, but the source of their illness is still unknown.
Victorian officials, keen to keep community transmission of COVID-19 to zero after eliminating a devastating second wave of infections, decided to expand the parts of NSW considered “red zones”.
People who live in those zones or have recently set foot there will not be issued a border pass under Victoria’s new permit system.
Returning Victorians will get another 24 hours to re-enter the state.
“If you, as a Victorian who has been in Greater Sydney, come back to Melbourne before – not midnight tonight, but midnight Monday night – you will have to be tested within 24 hours but you will be able to do your 14 days of quarantine at your home,” Mr Andrews said.
After that, anyone who enters the state, whether Victorian or not, will have to quarantine in a hotel.
“The road border will be a hard border,” Mr Andrews said.
The Australian Capital Territory has made no changes in its guidelines relating to the NSW outbreak since Saturday. New updates could come on Monday, the territory’s health department said.
The current advice is that those visiting Canberra, who have been to Sydney’s Northern Beaches since December 11, must self-quarantine for 14 days starting when they were last there.
A COVID-19 test is also required, although the result won’t affect the need to quarantine.
Western Australia reimposed a hard border to NSW overnight, with few exemptions including certain senior government officials and freight and logistics workers.
SCOMO URGES VILIGANCE FOR CHRISTMAS
Australia must be on “alert” for COVID-19 over the Christmas period and not become complacent as Sydney’s Northern Beaches grapples with a “serious” outbreak, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned.
Mr Morrison said the coronavirus cluster in Sydney’s north was concerning, but it was “encouraging” to see initial data showing the virus was not seeding into any other part of the city.
“But that doesn’t mean we can be complacent about it,” he said.
“That’s why the Premier has put in place the controls in terms of wearing of masks and restricting movement, particularly over the next few days, and especially there in the Northern Beaches, in the northern parts of Sydney, where particular restrictions are being put in place.”
Mr Morrison thanked people in the Northern Beaches for their “co-operation” and “patience”.
“It’s been done largely instinctively up there in the Northern Beaches,” he said.
“And I know that they’re looking to see these things change in the not too distant future and they know that that compliance can only help with getting that outcome.”
Mr Morrison said he had been in “regular contact” with the Premiers, particularly Ms Berejiklian.
“Over the course of this year, significant contact tracing and testing regimes have been built up to deal with situations just like this,” he said.
“I want to thank all those who have been working incredibly hard over the last couple of days to get on top of this outbreak in the Northern Beaches.”
Mr Morrison said the outbreak was a reminder not to abandon basic hygiene and social distancing.
“As people are coming together at Christmas, it’s a reminder that we can’t be complacent,” he said.
“The virus hasn’t gone anywhere. We still need to be on alert.”
RESTRICTIONS RETURN AFTER 30 NEW CASES
The Andrews Government announcement comes as 30 new locally transmitted cases of COVID were recorded in NSW with the Berejiklian Government announcing a return to restrictions for greater Sydney.
Twenty-eight of the cases have been linked to the original Avalon cluster. Two of the cases have not been linked to a venue but both live in the northern beaches.
The infections were detected out of more than 28,000 tests.
“So while the numbers are higher today than yesterday, the one positive is we still have not seen evidence of massive seeding outside the Northern Beaches community and our aim, of course, is to keep that in place,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
The total number of cases now linked to the cluster has hit 66, with the latest confirmed case being a resident of the Central Coast.
“This case has been linked to the Avalon cluster,” a Central Coast Local Health District spokeswoman said.
“They are currently in self-isolation at home ... all close contacts have been identified and are self-isolating. There is no ongoing risk to the community in relation to this case.”
The spokeswoman did not confirm if another Central Coast case diagnosed on Friday – a passenger who took the ferry from the northern beaches to Wagstaff – was a contact of the latest case.
Additional restrictions will be put in place for greater Sydney, including the Blue Mountains and Central Coast, to stop further spread.
All venues will revert back to the 4 sqm rule until further notice, and a cap of 300 people will apply.
Dancing has been scrapped except for wedding parties. There will be more restrictions on singing and dancing.
No more than 10 people will be allowed in your home until midnight on Wednesday night.
Chief health officer Kerry Chant said the new cases had visited a number of locations across Sydney.
Health alerts have been expanded for the Anytime Fitness gym in Avalon.
Anyone who visited the gym from November 23 and December 7 to get tested and isolate until they get a negative result.
Dr Chant said the testing advice is being expanded as NSW Health looks for “potential sources” of the cluster.
Health minister Brad Hazzard said everyone across sydney should be wearing a mask while he emphasised the dangers of singing, particularly in the transmission of the virus in the Avalon cluster.
Restrictions put in place for the northern beaches will also apply to any residents of the area who may have left for holidays, Dr Chant said.
TRAVELLERS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
Sunshine Coast resident Rebecca Wilkie and her two daughters Mackenzie, 4, and Marli, 2, were forced on Sunday to cut short a two-week holiday visiting family.
Ms Wilkie, who arrived in Sydney on Tuesday, made the tough decision to book flights home on Sunday after 30 new coronavirus cases were recorded.
She did not want to risk forced quarantine in QLD if the government declared the whole of Sydney was a ‘hot spot’.
“When they said the cases were increasing, we thought it had the potential to spread further,” Ms Wilkie said.
“We didn’t want to get caught out mid-flight so we thought it was a safer option to fly home today, to give ourselves a bit more time if they do close.”
Ms Wilkie said the decision was “devastating”.
“We hadn’t seen family for the whole year. After the terrible time it’s been recently, we were really looking forward to it. To have it cut short is devastating. But we have to do what’s right to keep everyone safe. It’s just another thing to add to the list of 2020 I suppose,” she said.
Her family held an “impromptu Christmas party” for her children and their cousins on Sunday morning before they fled home.
Polish couple Sylwia Kozdoj, 28, and Paul Gajak, 31, who moved to Australia two years ago, said they were “so lucky” to get out of Sydney before the borders shut.
The pair had a holiday booked long in advance to Adelaide and would not have been able to go if they had booked it a day later due to the SA border closure.
“We feel so lucky,” Ms Kozdoj said. “This is our first holiday in forever.”
Others were not as lucky.
Melbourne sisters Sydney Patterson, 19, and Breanna Patterson, 23, finally made it to Sydney for a friend’s birthday on Thursday after a year of cancelled trips due to COVID-19.
“We were finally able to come up after about eight months to see friends and family, but have sadly had to leave, otherwise we would have to quarantine over Christmas and New Years,” Sydney said.
“It’s been a challenging experience not knowing when will next be able to see our loved ones.”
NORTHERN BEACHES IN LOCKDOWN
From Sunday a Public Health Order is in force throughout the Northern Beaches Local Government Area – stretching from Manly to Palm Beach – locking down the peninsula and effectively isolating it from the rest of Sydney until at least Wednesday.
Under the order residents can only leave the house for essential reasons such as food shopping, work, exercise or medical care.
Outsiders will not be permitted to enter the northern beaches without a lawful reason.
Those who breach the rules face $1100 fines.
All residents of Greater Sydney are urged to monitor for symptoms of the virus and get tested if they develop.
Worryingly, days out from Christmas, NSW Health late last night revealed new case locations and public transport routes in Avalon Beach, Surry Hills, Forster, Narrabeen, Turramurra, Erskineville, St Peters, Mona Vale, Palm Beach, Raymond Terrace, Brookvale, Homebush, suggesting infection fears beyond just the northern beaches. Warnings have been issued for venues including popular inner city pubs, The Strawberry Hills hotel in Surry Hills and The Rose of Australia in Erskineville as well as hip Surry Hills eatery Nomad.
Despite infected people visiting venues outside of the northern beaches, as of Saturday there were no confirmed cases in greater Sydney.
There were 38 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sydney’s northern beaches, with 23 new cases of community transmission in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday night.
Of those, 21 had been traced back to the known Avalon cluster and two were under investigation.
The Anytime Fitness gym in Avalon was added to the growing list of venues under alert with one infected patron visiting several times this week.
Anxious aged care operators in the Northern Sydney Local Health District issued a ban on visitors until after Christmas, while at least one hospital outside the northern beaches cancelled elective surgery for residents in the so-called “hot zone”.
Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said the greatest issue for contact tracers was restaurant and cafe staff failing to ensure patrons had properly signed in.
“If you’re a customer and attending a restaurant or hospitality venue, you should not be sitting down until you see the green tick,” he said.
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said sewage surveillance had picked up the confirmed cases on December 16, but the samples had been negative when tested on December 10.
“That gives us confidence that this is a relatively recent introduction,” she said.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said both he and the Premier would take advice from NSW Health on whether further steps beyond the northern beaches lockdown were necessary to curb the outbreak.
“We will make sure it is not any longer than is necessary,” he said.
“This is a very localised outbreak at the present time around the Avalon cluster and every case seems to have some connection — some more tenuous than others — to the Avalon RSL and the Avalon Bowlo.”
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