QLD shuts the border, the Northern Rivers waits to hear if lockdown end on Saturday

While Mr Barilaro said the Northern Rivers would not face another six weeks in lockdown, he could not promise the lockdown would end on Saturday.

The NSW Crisis Cabinet will meet today to decide whether lockdown will end in regional NSW. Picture: NCA Newswire / Scott Powick

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said there will be no six-week lockdown announced tomorrow.

“The MP (Geoff Provest) got it wrong, he hasn’t been told that, the decision hasn’t been made,” he said.

“I can assure you there will not be a six-week extension on restrictions. Of that, I am confident about.

“Will there be an extension? That would be subject to the crisis cabinet”

Asked about the input by Local Health Districts in the future of restrictions, Mr Barilaro said most of them were supportive of further lockdowns.

“I’m not as confident as I was last week about when we could leave restrictions,” he said.

“The northern part of NSW in my mind is still an area that hasn’t got cases or (positive) sewerage surveillance, is there an opportunity there? Or are we better off with two more weeks, three more weeks or four more weeks? I don’t know.

“That’s the advice that I am keen to listen to from health.

“I know that CEOs of local health districts are giving advice back to the central agency in Sydney and most CEOs that have contributed have asked for an extension on lockdowns in the region.”

Mr Barilaro was unable to confirm if the CEO of the Northern NSW Local Health District had also requested lockdown extensions for the area.

Mr Barilaro said other regional areas in the south of the state had experienced rising Covid case numbers, which was of concern.

There was 49 new Covid cases in regional NSW: 35 in Dubbo, five in Orange, 7 in Bourke, one in Narromine, one in Walgett, seven in Wilcannia, one in Broken Hill, one in Newcastle LGA, one in the Port Stephens LGA, one in the Cessnock LGA, and one in Lake Macquarie.

Mr Barilaro said the government’s priority was to make sure they didn’t lose control of the Covid outbreak, and to protect lives.

The lockdown in regional NSW was set to end on Saturday, August 28, but the Cabinet will look at case numbers, vaccination rates, and sewerage surveillance in the region and neighbouring areas before making a decision on whether that will happen.

Mr Barilaro said it would be made clear at the meeting what was required for certain local government areas to be freed of lockdown measures, but said he preferred to have a plan that gave more certainty beyond this weekend.

“My view would be whatever we decide on for the announcement for post-this weekend needs to be long term, you can’t go week by week,” Mr Barilaro said.

Kyogle was singled out as the shining light in helping Covid restriction ease in NSW.

The NSW Premier said an announcement would be made in coming days about the easing of lockdown restrictions on the Northern Rivers, but the people of Kyogle are doing their part to help make that happen.

Mr Barilaro gave special mention to Kyogle in today’s NSW Covid press conference, commending the increased vaccination rate in the town.

He said the vaccination rate in Kyogle had risen from 28.8 per cent to 60.7 per cent.

That’s good news for the region as the NSW Premier said restrictions may ease when the state reaches certain milestones, such as reaching 70 per cent of the population with double doses of Covid-19 vaccinations.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her government will announce tomorrow or Friday what life will look like for people in the state in September.

The NSW Crisis Cabinet will meet today to decide whether to extend statewide stay-at-home orders.

COOLANGATTA, AUSTRALIA -NewsWire photos AUGUST 22, 2021, "Freedom" protesters gather on the NSW/QLD border to protest over border restrictions. Picture: NCA Newswire / Scott Powick

The Premier acknowledged some regions were less impacted by the Covid outbreak than others, but it remained to be seen whether restrictions will be eased by Local Government Area, or statewide restrictions would remain.

Detection of Covid fragments in sewerage in Yamba, Lennox Head in Byron Bay in the past few weeks, plus the news a Covid case had visited a Ballina service station would be considered in a decision.

It has been more than two weeks since a Sydney man, Zoran Radovanovic, and his two sons tested positive to Covid-19 while visiting the Northern Rivers.

Other than the two family members, no positive cases have been recorded since the announcement of Mr Radovanovic’s case on August 9.

Mr Radovanovic and his sons have returned to Sydney, but he and son Kristian Radovanovic face court appearances in September over allegedly breaching public health orders.

Zoran Radovanovic, 52, was issued with a Future Court Attendance Notice for seven offences including; not complying with noticed direction re section 7/8/9 – Covid-19 (three counts), and failing to comply with an electronic registration directive (four counts).

Kristian Radovanovic, 19, has been issued with a Court Attendance Notice for four offences, including; failing to comply with noticed direction re section 7/8/9 – Covid-19 – individual, failing to comply with electronic registration directive – individual (two counts), and not wearing a fitted face covering in public transport/taxi.

Kristian Radovanovic will appear before the court on September 27, while his father was expected to face court on September 13.

The man was granted strict conditional bail to appear at Lismore Local Court on Monday September 13.

As Northern NSW residents wait on a decision on when lockdown might end, the QLD Government says it is “at capacity”, putting a two week pause in place on people coming into the state who need to quarantine.

The new policy impacts Queenslanders returning home, and those relocating to QLD.

Queenslanders who are not on a plane by midnight will not be allowed home.

Chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said the policy would leave more room for people needing to go to QLD for medical needs, end of life care, and funerals.

The QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said those wanting to come home, could, but they would have to wait two weeks, and book a room in quarantine.

People with passes would need to reapply for a pass to enter QLD after two weeks.

Ms Palaszczuk said the move had been taken to ease pressure on a quarantine system that was at capacity, and being “stretched to the limit”.

Ms Palaszczuk said the police and health department had made the request as increased need for quarantine from people flocking to QLD was putting pressure on their resources.

She said relocation of people from Afghanistan had also put a strain on resources.

QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday, while stay-at-home orders were in place for residents in NSW, the border would remain shut to all but those who were granted an exemption.

The border closure has been difficult for those who need to cross for work or medical reasons, with essential workers required to have a vaccination to cross.

Ms Palaszczuk said she supported moving the border checkpoint further south to the Tweed River to make it easier for residents, but she said the NSW Government had “flatly rejected” the idea.

The Southern Gold Coast Chamber of Commerce has however, sent a blunt message out in a letter to their members.

It claims the QLD chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young “made it very clear that these changes were in place for at least ten weeks”.

The decision on whether lockdown will end was expected to be announced at the NSW Covid press conference tomorrow.