Brisbane Mayor isolates as Qld prepares to slam border shut to Adelaide
Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner is self-isolating for two weeks after travelling to Adelaide recently. It comes as Queensland will tonight close to Adelaide due to a “very dangerous” COVID cluster that has grown to 17 cases, with fears more are infected.
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Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner is self-isolating for two weeks after travelling to Adelaide recently.
It comes as Queensland will tonight close to Adelaide due to a “very dangerous” COVID cluster that has grown to 17 cases, with fears more are infected.
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Cr Schrinner released a statement today, saying he felt well but would isolate after liaising with Queensland’s Chief Health Officer.
“Last week I travelled to Adelaide to attend The Council of Capital City Lord Mayors Annual General Meeting,” the statement said.
“After a discussion today with the Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeanette Young, I will be having a COVID-19 test and self-isolating for 14 days.
“I’m feeling healthy and well, but will be following today’s Queensland Health directive and encourage anyone else who has been in Adelaide since Monday the 9th of November to do the same.”
Queensland will slam the border shut to the city of Adelaide as of 11.59pm tonight.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the decision today, which will mean Adelaide will be declared a hot spot.
Anyone who arrives from Adelaide from tomorrow will have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine.
The restrictions will not be lifted until Adelaide has 28 days of no community transmission.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has urged any Queenslander who recently arrived from Adelaide to get tested and to isolate themselves.
It will apply to anyone who has been in the city since Monday last week.
Anyone from Adelaide who arrives into Queensland today will need get tested and quarantine for 14 days in accommodation of their choice.
The mandatory provisions will kick in from 11.59pm tonight.
Dr Young described it as a “rapid increase” of cases, saying some had been in “complex situations”.
“We need to get more information about where the risks are,” she said.
“Anyone who has been in Adelaide since Monday of last week … should go and get themselves tested at one of our clinics throughout the state.”
Dr Young said those people should still self-isolate for 14 days even if their test results come back negative.
“I think it’s unlikely that virus was circulating prior to last Monday,” she said.
“I think people who were in Adelaide prior to last Monday are probably fine.”
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said there had been arrivals from Adelaide into the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Cairns today.
Brisbane Airport was experiencing delays up to 105 minutes due to the Adelaide outbreak.
It is understood there have been about 7000 people arrive into Queensland from Adelaide since Monday last week.
Qantas is currently operating 20 flights between Brisbane and Adelaide, but will likely decrease that number as restrictions come into play.
“With isolation or quarantine requirements changing for travellers from South Australia in a number of states and territories, we have already seen a number of customers booked to travel to and from Adelaide in the next few days take up this option,” Qantas said in a statement.
“We are looking at what impact these changes will have on our schedule, but it’s likely we’ll be reducing flights to and from Adelaide for the next few weeks.”
Anyone who has booked to travel on Qantas or Jetstar domestic flights will be able to change their flight without paying a change fee should they no longer wish to travel.
Virgin Australia will also be making changes to its flight schedule as a result of the border closures, with the airline currently operating around 35 weekly return flights to South Australia including flights between Adelaide to Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Perth and Alice Springs.
“Customers travelling to or from South Australia should ensure they check the latest information on the respective Government websites prior to travel,” a Virgin Group spokesman said.
“Any impacted customers will be provided with options to rebook or obtain a travel credit for use at a later stage.”
State travel restrictions were continuing to have a “significant” impact on the aviation industry, according to Virgin’s spokesman.
“We’ve already seen more than 85 changes to domestic border restrictions since the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.
It comes as four states imposed restrictions on South Australians after cases jumped from three to 17 overnight, with fears more could be infected. However, NSW will not close its borders.
Ms Palaszczuk tweeted earlier today warning travellers from Adelaide of possible restrictions.
Anyone about to leave Adelaide should be advised we are assessing the COVID-19 outbreak and may place restrictions on travel, including mandatory quarantine on arrivals. More details will be announced shortly. #COVID19Aus
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) November 15, 2020
“Anyone about to leave Adelaide should be advised we are assessing the COVID-19 outbreak and may place restrictions on travel, including mandatory quarantine on arrivals,” she tweeted.
“More details will be announced shortly”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said anyone arriving from South Australia at Melbourne airport would be interviewed and may be required to undergo a rapid test.
The Northern Territory has imposed a two week quarantine period, after Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Chief Health Officer Hugh Heggie made the announcement while two flights from Adelaide to Darwin were still in the air.
In Tasmania, Premier Peter Gutwein has urged those considering travelling to Tasmania from South Australia to “defer their travel” until the SA cluster is “completely understood”.
Mr Gutwein said those who have entered Tasmania from South Australia since Monday November 9 (about 900 people) will need to self isolate immediately either in their residence or in their hotel room until the government provided a further update this afternoon.
Meanwhile, passengers on a Sunday flight from Adelaide to Perth were taken aback after they were told they had to go into two weeks’ quarantine on arrival, despite the West Australian government only hours earlier assuring South Australians they could enter the state without having to isolate.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said its health experts consulted with SA Health and ordered the changes immediately in light of the latest outbreak in SA.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her government would not follow Tasmania and the Northern Territory in closing the border, saying she was confident in SA’s ability to manage the outbreak.
A Hungry Jacks worker and an aged care worker are among the new cases in Adelaide.
It comes after three people outside of hotel quarantine tested positive to the virus.
SA Health said an 80-year-old woman had tested positive after being treated at the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, it was revealed on Sunday.
An emergency meeting of the nation’s top doctors was held this morning, but the acting Chief Medical Officer has declared “we will defeat this virus”.
The South Australian outbreak has put the nation back on edge.
But Health Minister Greg Hunt said further outbreaks were to be expected and the acting CMO Paul Kelly said SA would get on top of the virus.
“It’s not what happened, but how we respond to it. That’s how we will defeat this virus,” Prof Kelly said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were no fail safes for the virus and outbreaks had been caught on contained before – including in NSW and Queensland.
“The testing and tracing will now be put to the test in South Australia,” he said.
Mr Morrison said it was up to states on whether to impose borders, but he hoped they were a temporary response.
“What is important is these don’t get sort of locked in as part of another enduring disruption and as soon as South Australia is able to get on top of this I would expect that states would keep on the path that we have set towards Christmas,” he said.
“It is a very timely reminder here and all around the country, whether you have been behind borders or not, the virus doesn’t care.
“If you are not following COVID-safe behaviours, if you are not following your COVID-safe plan … if you are not registering when you are going into a restaurant … then of course you are creating risks.
“Borders don’t protect you from that.”
Originally published as Brisbane Mayor isolates as Qld prepares to slam border shut to Adelaide
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