State bans arrivals

THE Queensland Government will enforce a blanket ban on new arrivals from NSW, the ACT and Victoria for the next 12 days.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the temporary ban was introduced to buy time for the state to clear the backlog of interstate and overseas arrivals in hotel quarantine.

“Queensland has been overwhelmed by new arrivals relocating to escape interstate lockdowns, placing huge pressure on our hotel quarantine system,” she said.

“No one currently in a declared hotspot will be permitted to enter Queensland’s hotel quarantine for two weeks, except for those with exemptions such as compassionate reasons.”

This includes people who have exemptions to move here, and returning residents.

It does not affect people travelling for medical reasons.

“New arrivals and Queensland residents will have to reapply for a border pass,” Ms Palaszczuk said

As of Tuesday, 5114 people were in 22 quarantine hotels – 3257 from interstate and 1857 from overseas.

The news comes as Australian Defence Force troopers are deployed to the Darling Downs today to help police enforce Covid compliance at our Queensland-NSW border checkpoints.

The soldiers will be stationed at the eight manned vehicle checkpoints from Wallangarra to Hebel.

They are part of a 120 strong contingent that joined police at the Southeast Queensland crossing yesterday.

They will assist police and Department of Transport and Main Roads staff in stopping cross-border traffic and compelling motorists to present their border declaration and vaccine documentation.

Travel across the NSW border remains under the tightest restrictions since the Covid pandemic started.

Border zone residents are only allowed to enter our state to access a Covid vaccine, to shop for essential supplies or for medical treatment.

Essential workers are only allowed in if they have had at least one dose of a vaccine.