Qld coronavirus: Border closed to Vic, open to other states, restrictions eased

Queenslanders in Victoria have been urged to rush home immediately as the Premier confirms our borders will open on July 10 to the rest of the nation but tighten for the Garden State as a result of “serious concerns” over community transmission.

QUEENSLAND’S border will remain closed to Victoria and be strengthened from this Friday but will reopen to other states from July 10, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirming she has ‘very big concerns’ about community transmission across Melbourne.

Visitors from other all other states and territories – NSW, SA, ACT, WA, Tasmania and NT – would be able to enter Queensland from July 10 after signing a border declaration form to declare that they had not recently visited Victoria.

Ms Palaszczuk this afternoon revealed the changes during a press conference with Deputy Premier and Health Minister Steven Miles where she also revealed Queensland would move to Stage 3 restrictions from Friday July 3 - one week early.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young urged all Queenslanders in Victoria to immediately return home, warning they will need to go into mandatory hotel quarantine if they arrive home later than midday this Friday

‘Some aspects’ of Stage 3 restrictions change on July 3

Coronavirus Qld: Restrictions may ease further amid border row

Results are in: Border debate still up in air

‘Open up’: PM says no reason for job-costing closure

Anyone who has travelled from Victoria, including Queenslanders, will be banned from entering or forced to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense from Friday.

Border patrols will continue to apply.

If visitors falsify the border document, they could face fines of $4,000.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said officers would be out and about to enforce the law.

He said police would be checking to make sure people entering Queensland had not visited Victoria in the 14 days prior to their arrival.

“We don’t take these decisions lightly,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“They’ve been given careful consideration from the Chief Health Officer and the Government.

“We believe we have the balance right.

“We are in a really good position at the moment.”

Queenslanders have been urged not to visit Victoria and Victorians should not come to the Sunshine State, Mr Miles said.

“Can I urge Queenslanders, this is very serious, please do not go to Victoria,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Stay in Queensland.

“I think these border wars have got to stop.”

Queensland's border will remain closed to Victoria.

Ms Palaszczuk said if there were large outbreaks in other states, the Chief Health Officer would have the power to shut the border to those states.

Ms Palaszczuk added she was frustrated that Queensland had been singled out, instead of South Australia and Tasmania.

The Premier said fights were being picked at different states and she did not think it was “good enough”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has thrown his support behind a lockdown of Melbourne suburbs at the centre of coronavirus outbreaks.

Another 64 cases of coronavirus have been detected across Victoria overnight, with none identified in returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Of the new cases, 13 are linked to known outbreaks.

Mr Morrison also offered Commonwealth resources to secure the suburban hot spots.

Stage three restrictions will be reintroduced in Victoria’s hotspot suburbs as of 11.59pm on Wednesday night.

SEE THE LIST OF POSTCODES AFFECTED HERE

“If indeed a full local lockdown is required in those hot spots, then that’s the decision the premier will take,” Mr Morrison said on Tuesday.

“And they’ll take that decision with the full support and backing through resources from the Commonwealth government, as well as from other states and territories where that is necessary.”

In easing restrictions, there will be no limits on spectators and caps on weddings will be lifted.

Small businesses under 100sqm, the 2sqm rule will now apply in a bid to boost the number of people visiting businesses.

Casinos will reopen.

Private gatherings will increase from 20 people to 100 people, for places like homes, weddings and funerals.

Queenslanders will also be allowed to buy a beer at the bar, while community sport will also be brought back.

The limit of 20 people per space: there will be no maximum, provided they have four square metres per patron.

In stadiums, up to 50 per cent capacity - or 25,000 spectators - will be allowed.

All of these new restrictions still require strict obedience to the 1.5m social distancing rules.

Families at churches and places of worship will be urged to also maintain a 1.5m distance when they gather.

“That’s all due to the tremendous work of Queenslanders,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Dr Young said people needed to maintain some of those “strict processes” to protect themselves.

“It’s very important if you’re sick to stay at home,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said “more support” will be offered to Victoria to help suppress the virus and will deploy 40 nurses to the region.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has backed the Queensland Premier’s decision, saying his ‘heart went out to Victorians’ but the decision was the correct one.

“It’s been a hard call but health has to be at the forefront,” he said.

“Can you imagine if the call wasn’t done...and we started getting more positive cases...so an abundance of caution is what we’ve got to do.

“I look forward to the day Victorians can come back.

“They will want to come here and celebrate.”

He said he was ‘always optimistic’ that the Gold Coast economy would continue to recover now as restrictions continue to ease.

Leader of the Opposition, Deb Frecklington, had earlier called for the border to reopen “from today”.

Queenslanders today again copped a serve from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who has accused people of bringing the virus south while the state keeps its own borders closed.

Ms Berejiklian said Queensland needed to open its borders and manage the virus like NSW was successfully doing.

“I understand the Queensland Premier has something to say in the near future,” she said earlier today before Ms Palaszczuk’s press conference.

“I encourage her to open her borders.

“New South Wales has demonstrated that you can have a COVID-safe environment.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says Queensland should open the border and deal with any COVID-19 transmission. Picture: Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

She said other states had to learn to live with the virus safely so as not to decimate jobs into the future.

“Ironically we’ve already had people from Queensland and WA bring the disease to New South Wales,” she said.

“So we’ve already experienced that level of interstate transmission, if you like, and we’ve dealt with it.”

South Australia has announced it will not go ahead with a July 20 opening, instead leaving their borders closed to Victoria, NSW and the ACT, but allowing travel from Queensland and other jurisdictions.

The state’s Premier, Steven Marshall, said a decision had been made to “completely revise the date”.

“We are very pleased with the way the ACT and NSW have been performing, so it is likely that we will set a date for the removal of the borders with the ACT and NSW, but we will now do that independently of that July 20th date,” he said.

Pressure from businesses that rely on interstate tourism to stay afloat has failed to push the state government to open borders sooner as Queensland’s coronavirus case numbers dwindle.

The closure has been a point of frustration for border communities and industries desperate for customers and foot traffic after taking a hit during the global pandemic.

Paul Prout, group marketing manager of the Twin Towns Services Club and resort which sit on the Queensland-NSW border, said the border reopening would boost COVID-battered business on both sides of the state line.

Mr Prout said he would have preferred the border checkpoint to have been completely removed ‘but it’s a step in the right direction’.

“It will certainly allow more people to come into the area,” he said.

“We have a lot of members on both sides of the border.”

Tony Cannon, owner of the Komune resort at Coolangatta, said the border reopening was ‘fantastic news’.

“Business has been smashed by the closure and the reopening has been a long time coming,” he said.

“It looks like the border checkpoint will still be in place but I support that if it means keeping Victorians out and Queensland safe.

“Hopefully it will also open up air travel into Gold Coast Airport because businesses like ours rely heavily on interstate tourists.”

Ms Palaszczuk and her government have argued keeping the borders closed has kept Queenslanders safe, while the Liberal National Party wants them opened to stop businesses going under.

However, a surge of new locally acquired cases has put officials on edge, with Victorian health officials recording 75 new diagnoses on Monday, and 61 today.

By contrast Queensland has had just one positive test in the past nine days – a returned traveller from overseas.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington had earlier said she wanted the Premier to give certainty and clarity over the border.

“I’d like to see the Premier make an announcement today that means the borders will reopen,” she said.

“I’ve been calling for the borders to be opened from today and I would like to see that the Premier makes that decision.”

Ms Frecklington insisted it was safe to open the border and said Victorians coming from hotspots should have to quarantine for two weeks at their own expense.

“We can manage any form of outbreaks in Queensland,” she said.

“Queenslanders have smashed the curve. It’s about time we stopped smashing the economy.”

Originally published as Qld coronavirus: Border closed to Vic, open to other states, restrictions eased