By Jess Baker
Queensland will close its borders to hundreds of thousands of New South Wales residents, as the number of cases linked to Sydney’s Bondi Covid-19 cluster grows to 31.
From 1am Thursday 24 June, seven local government areas in New South Wales will be declared Covid-19 hotspots, including Bayside, Canada Bay, City of Sydney, Inner West, Randwick, Waverley and Woolahra.
Queensland residents returning home from any of these locations must quarantine for 14 days in government arranged accommodation at their own expense.
Anyone who is not a Queensland resident and has visited a hotspot in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland unless they have an exemption.
The state has already been closed to those living in the Waverley Council area.
No community transmission was recorded in Queensland overnight, though there was one new overseas-acquired case of Covid-19 detected in hotel quarantine.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the case was of Delta variant.
“As we know, this Delta variant is much more infectious than other variants and we have serious concerns,” Ms Palaszczuk said this morning.
“This Friday … we will be easing even more restrictions across Queensland and we cannot afford to have this Delta variant out in our community.
From 1am Friday, 100 percent capacity will be allowed for events with allocated seating, there will be no restrictions on self-service food, there will be no limits on gatherings indoors or outdoors, and density restrictions will be lifted to three people per four square metres.
Also from 1am Friday 25 June, there will be no declared hotspots in Victoria.
All domestic travellers, and travellers from New Zealand, must now complete a declaration to enter Queensland.
Travellers who have been to a declared Covid-19 hotspot in the last 14 days must complete a Queensland Border Declaration Pass three days before entering the state.
All other travellers must complete a Queensland Travel Declaration prior to their arrival.
Queensland or New South Wales border zone residents who enter the state by road – and who have only been in the Queensland or New South Wales border zone in the last 14 days – will be exempt from having to make a declaration.
A full list of the areas considered exempt are available on the Queensland Health website, but it includes Killarney, Cottonvale, The Summit, Amiens, and Wallangarra.
