June 25, 2021
Queensland Health has tightened some restrictions in the wake of the growing COVID-19 cluster in Sydney.
There are now 65 cases in Sydney – plus two in Victoria – linked to the latest outbreak which began when an unvaccinated driver transported international flight crew.
Anyone currently in Queensland who has been to the Waverley, Woollahra, Randwick or City of Sydney council areas since June 11 must go into lockdown from 1:00am on Saturday.
Queensland Health officer Dr Jeannette Young said anyone this applies to must follow the same lockdown rules imposed in NSW.
“If you have been to one of the four local government areas, from 1:00am, June 26, you must stay where you are and only leave for the permitted purposes,” she said.
“But I’m asking you to be sensible – if you’re one of these people, please don’t rush off to another location on holiday – if you do, you’ll still need to follow these rules wherever you are.
“I am also now backdating the hotspot declaration for those four LGAs to 1:00am, June 11.
“This means any Queensland residents returning home after 1:00am tomorrow who have been in these hotspot LGAs in the past 14 days will go into hotel quarantine.
“Any other travellers who have been in these hotspot LGAs in the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland except for a limited range of essential reasons.”
Dr Young said due to the rising COVID-19 cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant in NSW, anyone moving between the cross-border zones of NSW and Queensland will have to complete a Queensland Travel Declaration from 1:00am on Monday (June 28).
“There are now 210 exposure venues in NSW and that’s concerning due to many of these cases being infected by fleeting contact,” Dr Young said.
“We now need everyone coming into Queensland – even the cross-border communities – to complete a travel declaration so we can reach people quickly if needed.
“I continue to urge all Queenslanders to reconsider their need to travel to NSW during this time.”
Dr Young also urged people to check the NSW contract tracing locations regularly.
“Locations are being added multiple times throughout the day, so it’s absolutely vital people keep checking that list,” she said.
“If you have been to any of the exposure sites at the specified times, you must follow the specified health advice.”
- External link: Contact Tracing Locations (Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic and NZ)
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Queensland recorded two new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 on Friday, both detected in quarantine.
The new cases are close contacts of the known COVID-19 case reported last Sunday.
Dr Young is still urging anyone who visited the Brisbane Airport DFO between 4:00pm and 4:30pm on Saturday, June 19, to come forward and get tested.
“It’s good news the case detected last weekend wasn’t the highly transmissible Delta variant, but we do still need to take every precaution,” she said.
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Use of the Check In Qld app will become mandatory at a number of new venues from July 9.
“We’ve added a number of new venues requiring to use the app, including supermarkets, retail shops and shopping centres; anywhere there is face-to-face contact,” Dr Young said.
“So a person entering a shopping centre will have to check in at the time of entry, as well as at the time of entry to each business within the centre. So, if you go to a department store, followed by the pharmacy and the butcher, then you must check in at all of those places.”
