Queensland, WA, Tasmania, reintroduce border restrictions on NSW

Queensland has introduced a “traffic light” system for interstate travellers while two states have slammed their borders shut to NSW residents.

Queensland has copied Victoria’s “traffic light” system for interstate travellers in the wake of Sydney’s latest Covid-19 outbreak.

It comes as NSW residents were banned from entering South Australia and Tasmania after four cases of Covid-19 were found in Sydney.

The Sunshine State, which recorded a handful of new cases this month, is demanding anyone travelling to Queensland must complete a travel declaration.

A driver aged in his 60s was the initial case, he then infected his wife before a 70-year-old woman was infected after attending a cafe the couple visited.

The virus was also detected in a man aged in his 40s in Baulkham Hills.

His test results showed low virus levels.

Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said pathology had confirmed that the driver has the Delta strain of the virus, which hasn’t yet been seen in Australia.

“This strain does not match anything that’s been uploaded in Australia at this time, but it does match a sequence that’s been uploaded from the US and so that fits with a plausible hypothesis,” she said.

“The obvious hypothesis is he has transported a flight crew who has subsequently been testing positive. We need to check and double check,” Dr Chant said.

TASMANIA

Tasmania has become the first to close its borders to anyone who visited a “high-risk” site in NSW.

While the rest of the country adopts a wait-and-see approach, Tasmania not only conditionally closed its border but called on anyone who has visited a site since June 11 to isolate and get tested.

“Anyone who is planning on travelling to Tasmania who has been to any of these high-risk premises at the specified dates and times will not be permitted to enter the state,” Tasmania’s director of public healths Mark Veitch said.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Anyone who have visited Sydney’s Covid hot spots have been banned from entering South Australia.

All people, including essential travellers and SA residents who have been at one of NSW’s Covid exposure areas are not permitted to enter the state.

The restrictions, which came into effect at 2pm on Thursday, will remain in place indefinitely.

QUEENSLAND

Queensland has copied Victoria’s “traffic light” system for interstate travellers.

A green pass means you have not visited a COVID-19 hotspot and can travel freely into the state.

If you have been to an interstate exposure site, you will be issued with an amber pass and required to follow particular quarantine conditions on arrival.

A green pass indicates the individual has not been to any Covid hotspot and can travel freely into the state,” Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said on Thursday.

“An amber pass will be issued in the circumstances that someone is travelling to Queensland and has been to an interstate exposure site and applies particular quarantine conditions on the person when they arrive.”

Declared hot spots are red zones with no travel permitted and exemptions will apply to residents in border communities.

Hot spots and red zones are what would be described typically as close contact areas.

The Sunshine State, which recorded a handful of new cases this month, is demanding anyone travelling to Queensland must complete a travel declaration.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it will come into place from 1am, Saturday June 19.

“New cases of COVID-19 are emerging in New South Wales and Victoria, and this step is a sensible measure to keep Queenslanders safe. Residents of border communities will be exempt,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk also advised against travelling to Greater Sydney.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The Western Australian government is asking any arrivals from NSW between June 9 and 16 to check if they were at one of the Sydney exposure sites.

If they have been, they should immediately get tested and quarantined for 14 days from the date of exposure, then present for a day 11 Covid-19 test.

“Any risk to WA remains very low but, again, the situation highlights the importance of remaining vigilant to prevent any spread of the virus or community transmission in this state,” WA’s chief health officer Dr Andrew Robertson said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation in NSW very closely, as we do when any cases of this nature emerge and will issue updated health advice if required.

NT

Anyone who arrived in the Northern Territory since June 1 and has been to an exposure site must follow the rules set out by NSW Health.

Anyone who has been identified as a close contact must immediately get tested and undertake 14 days of quarantine in their home or at a suitable place. They must remain in quarantine (unless to get tested) until noon of the 14th day after they were in a NSW Covid-19 case location, regardless of whether they return a negative Covid-19 test.

Any person identified as a ‘casual contact’ must isolate, get a Covid-19 test and remain in self-quarantine until a negative test is returned.