Qld to open to NSW from December 1, with decision on Victoria yet to be made

Queensland’s borders will open to the whole of NSW from December 1, with a final decision on Victoria to be made tomorrow. However, neither the Premier or Chief Health Officer were able to say what exactly would shut the borders again.

Queensland’s borders will reopen to NSW from December 1 and will likely reopen to Victoria on the same day.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the news as Queensland recorded one new case in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

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“Today I had a meeting with Dr Young … and Dr Young is now satisfied that they have reached the 28 days,” Ms Palaszczuk said on NSW.

“So can I say to NSW, we welcome you from December 1.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she knew it had been tough on families but that things were looking very positive.

“Every single Queenslander has played their part for us to get to this stage,” she said.

“This is a great day, this is exciting news.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that borders will open to the whole of NSW by December, with decisions on Victoria and South Australia to come. Picture: Josh Woning.

Ms Palaszczuk said tomorrow would be the 28-day mark with no COVID community transfer in Victoria and Queensland would likely reopen to that state too on December 1.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said she would also continue to monitor the situation in South Australia.

But neither the Premier or Dr Young were able to say what the exact trigger would be to shut the borders again.

“I think we’d have to see a major outbreak, we have been concerned about what happened in South Australia,” the Premier said.

“We need to make sure we’re always vigilant, we’re always watching, and of course we will assess South Australia.”

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young says the situation in South Australia is still being monitored. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Marshall.

Pressed on whether it would be a certain number of cases that would shut the border again, Ms Palaszczuk said she would always take the advice of Dr Young.

“What we have seen is we’ve moved now to a hotspot regime but it depends if there was a massive outbreak across a particular state, I think we’d see everybody react that way,” she said.

Dr Young said “it absolutely depends” when asked how big a “massive outbreak” was.

“But you would have seen in South Australia how seriously they immediately took that outbreak and the restrictions they put in place,” she said.

“There are so many variables here, each particular case has got to be looked at on its merits and work out what the risk is to Queensland.”

Dr Young said all people needed to have masks on hand now in case there was an outbreak here and they needed to be worn.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said Queensland had some of the lowest restrictions in the country.

“Our businesses are able to operate at double the capacity than in NSW,” she said.

There was also more people allowed in homes, concerts and sports stadiums.

She said that was because Queenslanders had done such a good job and must remain doing so.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said this was a day NSW had been looking forward to.

“We know our tourism and hospitality sectors have struggled … and this is a chance for particularly our tourism and hospitality sectors to get more people back to work,” he said.

Mr Miles said not only could people plan holidays to Queensland now, they could start relocating here to work and live.

However, Dr Young said despite no cases in the Queensland community, people still needed to continue to come forward for testing as there was an escalation of cases across the world.

“Any symptom anywhere in the state … please just come forward for testing,” she said.

“Because if we find the first case in an outbreak we don’t have to do all those close downs that no-one wants.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has “strongly welcomed” the reopening off Queensland to Sydney from December, as well as the prospective opening to Victoria as well.

“This news will bring joy to thousands of families and friends who now have the opportunity to see each other at Christmas,” he said.

“It’s also a relief for so many small businesses across both states, with more tourists and visitors set to visit soon, which is good for jobs and the economy.”

He said it was an important step towards getting Australia open by Christmas, a plan he has been advocating since the start of September.

“All states and territories have worked hard to put appropriate protections in place but as we open up it’s important every single person continues to do their bit to stay COVIDSafe,” Mr Morrison said.

Originally published as Qld to open to NSW from December 1, with decision on Victoria yet to be made