Tweed Shire placed on ‘orange’ status by Queensland Health

Hundreds of workers and visitors to the Chinderah service station have gone into isolation, but neither the NSW Premier nor NSW Health have offered further details on the level of exposure or how many people were affected.

The Tweed Shire has been placed in ‘orange’ status by Queensland Health.

The change happened on Sunday morning, after NSW Health revealed late on Saturday positive cases had visited the truck stop at the Ampol service station northbound near Murwillumbah turn-off in the Pacific Highway, between 8.30pm on July 13 and 7.30am on July 14.

Two people infected used the toilets, showers, lounge and food court at the service station, which is just 18km from the Queensland/ NSW border.

The change in the Queensland health advice means that if a Tweed Shire resident had been to the Chinderah service station during the exposure dates, they would need to quarantine for 14 days if they had entered the state.

Tweed residents trying to enter Queensland who have not been to the Covid venue during the times of exposure must complete a Queensland Travel Declaration, follow the health advice released by their home state or territory before deciding to travel, but will not be required to quarantine.

Other Northern NSW shires such as Kyogle, Richmond Valley Council, Ballina, Lismore and Byron were still classified as ‘green’ and have no restrictions to enter Queensland.

There was no ‘hard border’ stated between Queensland and NSW on the weekend, as many feared after the venue announcement.

Ampol Service Centre at Chinderah (formerly Caltex Starmart) northbound has been added to the NSW Covid contact list after positive cases stayed overnight on Tuesday July 13 and until Wednesday July 14. Picture Supplied

Tweed MP Geoff Provest said 30 per cent of Tweed residents travel to Queensland daily for a number of reasons.

“Orange basically means that we are ‘under watch’ to see what happens in the next 14 days,” he said.

‘But these things can change very fast, so I’d encourage people not to panic, make sure their passes are up to date and above all, our vaccination centres are now open seven days a week in the Tweed, so I strong encourage everyone to get vaccinated.

“We are all in this together and we can get through this.”

Mr Provest said NSW Health had contacted everyone who had checked in at the Amcol Chinderah service station at the exposure times.

“I know that NSW contact tracers have contacted all those people who were there are use the QR code to check in, including the staff,” he said.

“Now they are in mandatory isolation and need to get three Covid tests over 14 days.

“I’d imagine that would be well over 100 people, considering how busy the place is.

“Unfortunately, it seems to have affected a number of young workers there at fast food outlets, and my concern is that many of them are doing their HSC and this is going to be a fairly significant blow to them.”

Mr Provest encouraged anyone who was at the service station during that period and did not use the QR check-in service to get tested and self isolate.

On her Sunday media conference, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian did not offer any extra details on the situation with the two people who stayed at the Chinderah service station.

Geoff Provest said he was still waiting for further information on what those two people’s next movements were, but he was told that the service station had reopen on Sunday.

“As far as I have been advised, it went through a deep cleaning and I imagine it would be back and running, it’s one of the fuel stops in that area and it’s very busy and it’s a major employer in out town,” he said.