Is Sydney Airport a hotspot? New travel restrictions for LGAs revealed
Internet search interest for “Is Sydney Airport a hotspot?” spiked +850% on Wednesday amid questions about where NSW residents can travel this weekend. So what are the answers?
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Some holiday-goers have been banned from travelling interstate and leaving Greater Sydney under extraordinary health orders introduced by the NSW Government following a major surge in Covid-19 cases.
The news comes after travellers made a dash for the border and flight prices soared on Wednesday hours before NSW’s partial lockdown, which was enforced from 4pm.
The new cases prompted the Queensland Government to shut-out selected LGAs from visiting the Sunshine State and the NSW Government to ban NSW residents of seven Sydney LGAs from travelling outside metropolitan Sydney.
Anyone who works or lives in City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick, Canada Bay, Inner West, Bayside or Woollahra risks a fine if they are caught travelling outside metropolitan Sydney - defined as the Greater Sydney region excluding the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury or Wollondilly areas.
The LGAs of The Hills Shire, Hornsby, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Blacktown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown, Sutherland Shire, Canterbury-Bankstown, Randwick, Inner West, Woollahra, Waverley, Inner West, Randwick, Canada Bay, Cumberland North Sydney, Willoughby, City of Parramatta, Sydney, and Ku-Ring Gai are all a part of metro Sydney.
After earlier questions were raised about whether travelling to the airport and interstate was considered to be outside ‘metropolitan Sydney,’ a NSW Health spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed: “flying interstate is leaving metropolitan Sydney.”
Therefore, travelling to the airport and flying interstate or outside Greater Sydney would constitute a breach of health orders.
Residents who live in the LGAs subject to restrictions will, however, be allowed to travel outside of metropolitan Sydney if they have a valid excuse, such as work or for medical reasons. A holiday is not considered a valid excuse.
In NSW, search interest for “Metropolitan Sydney map” and “What is metropolitan Sydney?” both spiked over +5,000% on Wednesday morning while lockdown related searches increased fivefold.
The news comes after tickets to Queensland sold out within hours and airline call wait times ballooned as travellers desperately tried to change their flights before Queensland’s 1am border shutdown came into effect on Thursday.
Flight prices also doubled with demand on Wednesday, with those hoping to go to Hamilton Island or Brisbane having to pay $550 one way instead of $200.
Meanwhile search interest for “Is Sydney Airport a hotspot?” spiked +850% in NSW on Wednesday.
Border-related searches in NSW saw a sharp spike at 9:30AM (AEST) today. The top trending related question, spiking +1,050% was “Has QLD closed its border to NSW?”.
Meanwhile, Jetstar customers were faced with call wait times of more than an hour on Wednesday as customers rushed to change their flights. Qantas and Virgin also reported large call volumes.
Qantas and Jetstar both had to cancel flights, with a spokesperson saying “further cancellations will be made to flights over the next week.”
Both airlines assured customers impacted by the closures they will be able to “change travel dates or receive a flight credit.”
Where flights are cancelled by the airline, customers will have the option of a refund.
“Affected customers will be contacted directly to discuss alternative options,” they said.
A spokesperson for Virgin Australia said customers would be allowed unlimited changes to flight bookings and waiving change and cancellation fees.
Travellers forced to cancel or postpone their plans because of the border closures have been assured by airlines that they will get a credit note or refund.
A Sydney Airport spokesperson urged customers to check the status of their flight.
“We’re advising passengers to stay on top of the health advice and check the status of their flight with their relevant airline.”
QLD CLOSES BORDER TO SYDNEY
QLD closed its border to all of Sydney and surrounds early on Thursday after more Covid-19 cases were detected.
All of Greater Sydney has been declared a hotspot, with residents barred from crossing the border from 1am Thursday, according to Queensland Health.
The ruling also applies to the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour regions, according to the statement on Wednesday night.
QLD Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the move just before the school holidays was sparked by the “ extremely concerning” Bondi cluster.
“I know this is a difficult time, but my priority is always the health and safety of Queenslanders,” Dr Young said.
“The sharp rise of cases in Sydney today is extremely concerning due to many of these cases being infected by fleeting contact.... the Delta variant is much more contagious than other variants and we do not want it circulating in Queensland.”
The hotspot declaration becomes active from 1am Thursday, meaning no one from the affected NSW LGAs can enter QLD unless for essential travel.
All Queenslanders who return home after the cutoff time will need to do 14 days in hotel quarantine.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Wednesday said Queensland can’t afford to have Covid-19 infiltrate the state as further restrictions will ease on Friday, and has urged Queenslanders to reconsider any travel to Greater Sydney.
“At the beginning of the pandemic I was saying you need 15 minutes of close contact to transmit,” she said.
“Now it looks like it’s just five or 10 seconds that are a concern.
“The risk is so much higher now than it was a year ago.”
Queensland police will be upping their random patrols.
VICTORIA
Victoria announced a hard border closure with Greater Sydney on Wednesday, meaning residents cannot enter Victoria without an exception or work permit.
Residents impacted are from the LGAs of Sydney, Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra, Bayside, Inner West and Canada Bay.
Residents living in the Wollongong LGA have also been subject to restrictions after the area was declared an ‘orange zone’ from June 23. People from this area must apply for a permit, test and self-quarantine while awaiting results.
Residents from the rest of NSW can still travel to Victoria with a permit because those areas have been declared a ‘green zone.’
QUEENSLAND
QLD closed its border to all of Sydney and surrounds on Thursday morning as the ongoing Bondi outbreak grows. All of Greater Sydney has been declared a hotspot, with residents barred from crossing the border from 1am Thursday.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
The Northern Territory has also clamped down on restrictions, with people visiting from Greater Sydney forced into hotel quarantine.
TASMANIA
Anyone who has been to the City of Sydney, Randwick, Inner West, Woollahra, Waverley, Canada Bay and Bayside 4pm on Wednesday won’t be allowed into Tasmania without special permission.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
NSW travellers cannot enter SA except unless they are returning South Australians, people genuinely relocating to the state or those granted an exemption.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
NSW residents cannot travel to WA unless they have an exemption or for compassionate reasons.
ACT
If you live in the seven declared hotspot areas in Greater Sydney and enter the ACT you must stay at home unless you are exempt.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand has temporarily closed it travel bubble with NSW.
Health alerts have also been issued after a person flying to Wellington tested positive to Covid-19.
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