Palaszczuk throws out the welcome mat for Victorians
The Queensland Government will reopen the border to Victoria on December 1.
Premier Annastacia palaszczuk has announced the Queensland border will be open to Victorians from December 1. (Photo: AAP Image/Darren England)
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the change this morning after the southern state went 28 days without an unlinked case of community coronavirus transmission.
It follows her announcement on Tuesday that the NSW border would open on December 1.
“Absolutely, and Victoria will be good to go to come up to Queensland as well (on December 1),” Palaszczuk told Seven’s Sunrise program on Wednesday.
“So that’s absolutely wonderful news, congratulations to Daniel Andrews and his team down there, and to all of the Victorians, and we look forward to welcoming you to Queensland.
“And please stop by and say hello. If you see me out and about during the holidays because it’s going to be wonderful.”
However, Palaszczuk warned there’s still a risk the state could go back into semi-lockdown if there’s a surprise case of coronavirus in the community.
“We still have to remember … we’ve got people coming back from overseas going into hotel quarantine and it only takes one person to get out or go into the community and we could be back into a semi-kind of lockdown,” Ms Palaszczuk told Nine’s Today Show.
“Fingers crossed everyone is doing the right thing.”
Palaszczuk made particular reference to South Australia, which last week went into lockdown after a support worker at an Adelaide quarantine hotel contracted the virus, driving new cluster in the city.
“I can’t predict the future,” she added.
But in the event of another interstate outbreak, Queensland currently plans to instead impose restrictions on a specific geographical area under a hotspot regime.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young confirmed there are no set parameters for the new hotspot regime, saying it was important to be flexible in responding to interstate outbreaks.
“Each particular case has got to be looked at on its merits and work out what the risk is to Queensland,” she said on Tuesday.
Only Adelaide residents will still have to quarantine on arrival in Queensland after November 30.