Coronavirus: Queensland to open border to ACT residents

Queensland will lift its controversial border restrictions with the ACT next Friday.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles in Brisbane on Friday. Picture: Peter Wallis

Queensland will lift its controversial border restrictions with the ACT next Friday.

Health Minister Steven Miles has announced that travel between the state and territory would be allowed from 1am on Friday without the need to quarantine.

The ACT has not had any community transmission of COVID-19 for months.

“We’ve been saying for some time now that for Queenslanders, Queensland is good to go. Now for Canberrans, Queensland is good to come,” Mr Miles said.

It follows South Australia’s decision to soften border restrictions on the ACT and will coincide with the territory’s school holiday period.

The ACT was closed to Queensland at the same time NSW was declared a hotspot after one person used the inland territory as a backdoor into Queensland to bypass restrictions.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tweeted that she had spoken to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr to reach an agreement. “We’ll work with ACT authorities to make sure appropriate checks are in place at ­Canberra Airport for people flying into Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said

“This is another step towards ensuring Queensland’s economy rebounds, not the virus.”

The restrictions on the ACT drew fierce criticism earlier this month after Canberra nurse Sarah Caisip, 26, was unable to attend her father’s funeral due to mandatory 14-day quarantine restrictions. She was eventually granted an 11th-hour exemption to attend a short private viewing after the service.

There are no changes to current NSW and Victoria border bans, with all return travellers expected to enter mandatory hotel quarantine at their own cost upon entering Queensland.

On Friday, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall announced NSW residents may be allowed to enter the state as early as next week, with restrictions potentially set to ease on Tuesday. The Northern Territory will reopen to Greater Sydney from October 9. Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday that she would rather lose next month’s state election than be pressured into reopening borders.

No new cases were reported in Queensland on Friday. Sewage testing at Hervey Bay found low levels of the virus but Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young warned there was no need for alarm. “We are testing sewage across the state and we are picking up virus every so often. Not sure at this point in time what that really means,” Dr Young said.

COVID-19 had previously been found in sewage on the Whitsundays, however, no community transmission was reported in the area after the discovery.