May 25, 2021
There are now nine confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Melbourne’s northern suburbs cluster, prompting Queensland Health to declare the City of Whittlesea local government area a COVID-19 hotspot
From 1:00am on Wednesday (May 26) anyone arriving into Queensland who has been in the City of Whittlesea since May 11 will go into hotel quarantine unless they have a valid exemption,
From 1:00am on Thursday (May 27) everyone arriving from Victoria will be required to complete a border pass. Any of those arrivals who have been in the City of Whittlesea since May 11, and are a non-Queensland resident, will be turned away at the border unless they have an exemption to enter the State. Queensland residents or those given an exemption to enter the State will go into hotel quarantine.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young urged Queenslanders to reconsider their need to travel to Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
She said new restrictions would also apply to Queensland’s prisons, aged care facilities, disability accommodation services and hospitals.
“From 1:00 on Wednesday (May 26), anyone who has been in Greater Melbourne on or after May 11 cannot enter these facilities unless 14 days have passed since they were there,” she said.
Exemptions can be requested on compassionate grounds.
Dr Young said Queensland will continue to monitor the situation.
“Acting quickly matters,” she said.
“These situations are always evolving, but we know the next few days are critical in suppressing the risk of the virus spreading. Further restrictions may be required.”
Dr Young reminded anyone already in Queensland who has been to a declared COVID-19 exposure site in Victoria during the risk period must get tested and quarantine.
- External link: Victorian exposure sites
[UPDATED]
