Coronavirus: Melbourne’s hotspot status cans Queensland holidays

Melburnians are likely to remain locked out of Queensland ahead of the beginning of the school holidays.

A large line forms Waratah Lane in the Melbourne CBD which went around the block for COVID testing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Melburnians are likely to remain locked out of Queensland ahead of the beginning of the school holidays with the hotspot status of the Victorian capital to remain in place potentially into next week.

A Queensland Health spokesman on Wednesday night said “with Victoria announcing today they will continue to have some local restrictions in place, the hotspot will remain in place for Greater Melbourne.’’

It is understood the decision will be reviewed next week.

In the meantime, only returning Queensland residents or Melburnians seeking entry for essential reasons will be granted entry to the state if they have been in Greater Melbourne in the past 14 days.

The Queensland government announcement came as the Victorian government indicated Melburnians hitting the ski slopes this winter would be required to test negative for coronavirus in the 72 hours before entering the state’s alpine resorts, under new safety measures being introduced by the Andrews government as Covid restrictions eased slightly.

Victoria’s latest relaxation of restrictions will see Melbourne’s 25km non-essential travel limit and requirement to wear masks outside scrapped from midnight on Thursday, with households also permitted to have up to two adult guests a day and outdoor gatherings capped at 20.

The easing came despite confirmation of five new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday, four of them residents of an apartment complex in inner-city Southbank, where an aged-care worker tested positive more than a fortnight ago.

Covid-19 logistics chief Jeroen Weimar denied targeted testing and/or a lockdown of the Southbank apartment complex could have prevented what is now at least eight cases in residents of at least four apartments.

“I don’t think so. It highlights how important the circuit-breaker (lockdown) has been in terms of minimising movement,” he said on Wednesday.

Asked whether a localised lockdown of an apartment complex may have been preferable to prolonged restrictions for a state, Mr Weimar said: “As we have done over recent months, we adjust our response based on evidence on the ground and infor­mation available.”

Wednesday’s fifth new case was that of a vaccinated nurse at the Epping private hospital in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, who had been caring for coronavirus-positive residents from the Arcare aged-care facility in the northwestern suburb of Maidstone, where the index case for the Southbank cluster worked.

The nurse worked shifts on July 9 and 14, and is believed to have been infectious during the second shift.

Dozens of exposure sites linked to the latest cases were listed on Tuesday – including the South Melbourne Market and cafes in Melbourne’s CBD and Southbank – resulting in long queues for tests in the inner city.

Eight exposure sites were added on Wednesday, including Myer’s flagship Bourke Street store and a series of locations in northern suburbs including Brunswick, Coburg North, Hadfield and Airport West.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the decision to require Melburnians entering ski resorts to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test was based on the need for the industry to be protected from closure.

“A single case infectious on the mountain would be a potential superspreader event,” he said.

Business groups welcomed the easing of restrictions but many argued they did not go far enough, and others highlighted inconsistencies.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Paul Guerra said the easing was a step in the right direction “but we needed to take a leap”.

Melbourne gyms will finally be permitted to reopen, but classes will be capped at 10 people.