QLD-VIC Border Restrictions Tightening

The QLD Premier and Deputy QLD Premier just spoke to the media regarding QLD restrictions & border closures:

• Moving toward some aspects of Stage 3 as of this Friday, 3 July (brought forward by one week)
• Weddings, funerals, gyms and private gatherings will be allowed 100 people
• Ordering at bars, pubs, clubs, cafes etc allowed - no limit on numbers for venues provided they have space for 4m² per person
• Contact sports and spectators, no limits with social distancing if outdoors
• Stadiums – 50% of capacity or 25,000 max, whichever is lower
• 1 person per 2m² for smaller businesses (cap of 50)
• 1 person per 4m² for casinos / concert venues / theatres
• Need to ensure social distancing is maintained everywhere – 1.5m between groups of people
• Borders – QLD is concerned about Victoria, 250 cases in the last 7 days, there is community transmission
• QLD border will remain closed to Victoria with tougher measures in place from this Friday, 3 July
• Anyone travelling from VIC (even Queenslanders) from this Friday, 3 July will have to quarantine on arrival for 2 weeks in a hotel at own expense or be turned back
• QLD is helping VIC get the virus under control but doesn’t want the risk coming here - overall message: Queenslanders do not go to Victoria, Victorians do not come here
• From Friday July 10, people from TAS, WA, SA, NT, ACT, NSW will be able to travel into QLD again
• Everyone travelling to QLD will have to fill in a border declaration and obtain a border pass to ensure they haven’t been in VIC in the past 14 days
• People lying or falsifying info will face significant fines
• If the Chief Health Officer identifies hotspots with community transmission, they will take similar actions towards those states/areas

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The VIC Premier has just announced the following:

• Lockdowns back in place for 10 postcodes as of Wednesday 11.59pm – 3012, 3021, 3032, 3038, 3042, 3046, 3047, 3055, 3060, 3064 – for 4 weeks
• People in those postcodes will only have four reasons to leave their homes: for work or school, for care or caregiving, for daily exercise, or to get food and other essentials
• People outside these postcodes should not enter them unless it is work and only work that needs to be done in person
• Door-to-door testing will continue throughout suburbs
• Police will be actively enforcing lockdown in these suburbs in boozebus style set ups and randomly/frequently asking people who are out what they are doing
• People not following orders will be fined on the spot
• Businesses and people will be supported by the government in these postcodes
• VIC Premier has asked to divert all international flights away from Melbourne for 2 weeks, for the purpose of not having any more people entering hotel quarantine in Victoria for the next 2 weeks
• The outbreak is predominantly linked to staff in hotel quarantine breaching well-known and well-understood infection control protocols. A judicial inquiry will take place to investigate
• This needs to be done to ensure other areas do not have to be locked down (eg. Melbourne CBD)

Full list of suburbs:

• Postcode 3012: Brooklyn, Kingville, Maidstone, Tottenham, West Footscray.
• Postcode 3021: Alban Vale, Kealba, Kings Park, St Albans.
• Postcode 3032: Ascot Vale, High Point City, Maribyrnong, Travancore.
• Postcode 3038: Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Taylors Lakes, Watergardens.
• Postcode 3042: Airport West, Keilor Park, Niddrie.
• Postcode 3046: Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park.
• Postcode 3047: Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana.
• Postcode 3055: Brunswick South, Brunswick West, Moonee Vale, Moreland West.
• Postcode 3060: Fawkner.
• Postcode 3064: Craigieburn, Donnybrook, Mickleham, Roxburgh Park and Kalkallo.

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The Border Restrictions Direction No. 5 (effective 01 May 2020) remains in place as is for QLD.

Currently, under this Direction, QLD residents flying to VIC for work and then returning to QLD are exempt from border restrictions and forced quarantine.

However, the QLD Government may update this and provide a new Direction in the coming days, to reflect the QLD-VIC border closure. This could change the exemption rules but there is no further information available at this time.

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QLD has put out a new Direction that will take effect as of this Friday (tomorrow) noon, 10 July 2020.

In brief:

• It allows people from other states and territories to enter the state without having to undertake mandatory quarantine, provided they:
  • Have a valid Queensland Border Declaration Pass (must be applied for within 7 days of the travel to QLD), which will include:
    • A declaration that they have not been overseas / a COVID-19 hotspot / had contact with a confirmed case / had symptoms consistent with COVID-19 / been diagnosed with COVID-19
    • Providing personal details including name, date of birth, phone number, address and email address, and where the person intends to stay while in Queensland
  • Provide an undertaking that the person will present for a COVID-19 test if the person develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19 within 14 days of entering Queensland

Regarding any travel from any part of Victoria (or other COVID-19 hotspots as they are identified by the QLD Govt):

• The QLD Govt has hardened their approach with this new border declaration, stating that anyone who has been in a COVID-19 hotspot in the 14 days prior to entering Queensland must not enter Queensland unless they are exempt. Exemptions are specified in the Direction and include QLD residents.
• QLD residents who have been to VIC may enter the state, provided they undertake mandatory quarantine at a quarantine hotel at their own cost
• The new Direction appears to have removed construction from what QLD considers ‘essential activity’, meaning that QLD residents who return to QLD after performing construction-related work in VIC would also have to enter mandatory quarantine.
• This is a significant change to all previous QLD Directions throughout the pandemic in which construction has been considered essential and exempt from mandatory quarantine. I will confirm this once the Border Pass Declaration has been updated with the new particulars as of noon tomorrow.

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Just to confirm below, there is now no provision for ‘construction’ or ‘FIFO’ under the exemptions list for people travelling from VIC into QLD. The wording of ‘time critical specialist’ has also been updated which no longer broadly covers people in the construction industry.

People from other states and territories may enter QLD without needing to quarantine now, provided they have a valid border pass and have not been in VIC in the last 14 days (or any of the reasons listed below).