Victoria shuts border to Greater Brisbane after lockdown announcement

The border has been slammed shut on Brisbane, with Victoria designating the city a red travel zone from 6pm. It comes as the Queensland capital braces for a three-day snap lockdown.

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Victoria has slammed the border shut to Greater Brisbane after the Queensland capital announced a three-day lockdown.

The City of Brisbane, City of Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay Region and Redlands City will be designated a red zone under Victoria’s traffic light travel permit system from 6pm Monday.

It means non-Victorian residents from Brisbane are not allowed to enter Victoria without an exception, specified worker permit, transit permit, freight worker permit, or exemption.

Victorians in Brisbane will need to apply to come home, then quarantine for 14 days.

The northern state’s capital will go into a three-day snap lockdown beginning 5pm after four new local cases were reported.

Residents will only be allowed to leave their house for four essential reasons: Exercise with family groups; shopping for essentials; healthcare and caring; and work and school if they can’t be done from home.

Masks will be mandatory in all public indoor settings.

It comes as two tourist hot spots in New South Wales were listed as new high-risk exposure sites linked to the Queensland outbreak.

Byron Bay’s popular Byron Beach Hotel and The Farm, as well as the PCYC Pine Rivers in Queensland, were listed as hot spots on Monday afternoon, as authorities scramble to manage the latest COVID outbreak.

The Brisbane lockdown has plunged Victorians' holiday plans into uncertainty ahead of Easter.

More Victorians could be forced into isolation with the state’s health department instructing anyone who attended an exposure site at the listed times to contact them and quarantine for 14 days.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updated advice today,” a department statement said.

Any Victorians who have visited the Byron Beach Hotel on Friday March 26 between 7.15pm and 8.30pm should get tested immediately and quarantine until their results come back.

The same ruling applies to anyone who visited The Farm Byron Bay on Sunday, March 28 between 8am and 9.30am and Queensland’s PCYC Pine Rivers also on Sunday, March 38 between 7.16am and 8.10am.

FOOTY THROWN INTO CHAOS

The AFL’s earlier plans to forge ahead with the Brisbane-Collingwood contest at the Gabba were also plunged into chaos.

Brisbane is likely to remain in Melbourne until after its Round 4 clash against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat as COVID carnage hits the AFL.

The Lions are staying at the Sofitel on Collins St, but could be forced to relocate to another hotel because Easter bookings mean enough rooms for staff and players might not be available at the top-end hotel.

The Herald Sun understands the AFL was on Monday looking at alternative accommodation.

The decision to extend the Lions’ stay in Melbourne is expected to be announced soon.

The Lions were training in Port Melbourne on Monday morning, with football boss Danny Daly stating the club had been hopeful of returning to Queensland Monday afternoon.

Lions players were on Sunday stranded in Melbourne, unable to fly north, as the AFL waited for more information from health officials.

The AFL has ruled that Brisbane’s contest against Collingwood will be played at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.

Read the full story here.

People lining up for COVID testing at the Bowen Hills clinic in Brisbane. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

RETURNED VICTORIANS TEST NEGATIVE

Three Victorians are isolating in hotel quarantine after being deemed close contacts, having visited one of the Redcliffe exposure sites.

Two of the trio — who travelled to Queensland together, before returning on March 22 — have tested negative, and the result of the third was still pending as of Monday morning.

Their secondary contacts are also isolating.

Queensland health authorities earlier believed they had found the missing link between a doctor earlier in March and the recent cases, after the brother of a 26-year-old Stafford man who tested positive to the highly infectious British strain on Thursday night.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said the brother was infectious “a little while ago” and had since recovered from the virus.

“He is probably the person responsible for the transmission,” she said.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said health authorities believe they had found the source of the latest outbreak. Picture: John Gass

About 21,000 people who have travelled from Brisbane to Victoria since March 12 have been contacted.

Queensland health officials were on Sunday forced into an embarrassing backtrack after incorrectly claiming a Brisbane man who tested positive for COVID-19 had hosted 25 people at his home for a party while awaiting test results.

Queensland police said the reports of a large gathering were inaccurate, confirming there were only five people at the home, including mostly residents.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath defended the mistake, claiming the man told health officials there were 25 people at his home.

“Whether it was a misunderstanding at the time or what it was, I cannot tell you,” she said.

One COVID-19 case was recorded in hotel quarantine in Victoria overnight, with an international flight crew member testing positive.

There were no community transmission cases recorded among the 13,963 people who received their tests on Sunday.