South Australia considers closing border to Queensland due to new COVID-19 outbreak

A COVID-19 cluster linked to 10 new cases in the southeast could see the whole of Queensland locked out of at least one neighbouring state, with others monitoring the outbreak closely.

South Australia is considering slamming shut its open border between Queensland as the Sunshine State grapples with the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

But other states are less likely to follow suit, with NSW ruling out further restrictions on Southwest Queensland residents for the time being.

There are now 18 active coronavirus cases in Queensland, with authorities this morning announcing one new case linked to the Wacol Youth Detention Centre Outbreak.

In total, 10 cases have now been linked to the outbreak first recorded in a 77-year-old worker from the facility.

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Complete breakdown of southeast Queensland’s new COVID-19 cluster

South Australia could be about to close its border to Queensland due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in the state’s southeast. Picture: David Gray

SA Health chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said authorities were monitoring the Queensland situation daily and the open border policy could change at any time.

“It is possible we will need to re-look at our quarantine requirements coming back into our state,” she said.

Prof Spurrier said that anyone who had travelled to the greater Brisbane and Ipswich area recently should get tested following a cluster of cases.

SA Police are now emailing all people who have travelled from Queensland with the latest advice.

“We are asking people who have been to be very careful about monitoring their own health — please get tested if you have been to the greater Brisbane or Ipswich area,” Prof Spurrier said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she wants to keep the borders open despite a new outbreak of COVID-19 in southeast Queensland. Picture: Gaye Gerard

But NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she wasn’t contemplating further restricting Southeast Queensland residents travelling across into NSW.

“We don’t feel that’s necessary at this stage, the rates of community transmission are very low up there,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Where we can, we should absolutely keep borders open. We know how much it impacts our border communities,” she said.

“The rates of community transmission in Queensland are very low, and if you have confidence in your health system if you have confidence that your community members will come forward and get testing, we should really be careful before we take those big decisions because it does adversely impact communities”.

Victoria’s borders are currently open and Western Australia’s hard border closure remains in place, meaning it is shut to all states and territories.

Originally published as South Australia considers closing border to Queensland due to new COVID-19 outbreak