On a knife-edge: Premier warns one border breach means lockdown
Queensland will further tighten its border with NSW as it relaxes internal COVID-19 restrictions after recording no new cases of the virus.
Queensland has recorded one locally acquired case in the past four days, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying social distancing restrictions and an outdoor face mask mandate can ease from 4pm on Friday.
āWe have some good news for Queenslanders and I really want to thank everybody for doing the right thing and today we have zero community cases in Queensland, so well done Queensland. Fantastic job,ā she told reporters on Wednesday.
The premier said an outdoor face mask mandate would end at 4pm on Friday, but masks will need to continue being worn indoors.
āSo this is really important, this is our added protection against the Delta variant, and I think itās a small price to pay for some easing our restrictions,ā Palaszczuk said.
Up to 30 people will be allowed to gather at private homes and 100 people will be allowed at weddings and funerals.
Indoor events and stadiums with ticketed seating will be allowed to operate at 75 per cent capacity and community sport will be allowed to restart.
Social distancing rules in cafes and restaurants will be reviewed next week.
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However, Palaszczuk left no doubt of a looming threat from the Deltaās march northwardsĀ from NSW, insisting the border between the two states will be tightened after an explosion of cases there.
Announcing NSW had recorded 633 new locally acquired cases on Wednesday, that stateās premier Premier Gladys Berejiklian said āwe havenāt seen the worst of itā.
āAccording to the data we have every person who has the virus spreading it to at least more than one person,ā she said.
Only police, health workers and construction workers who have had one dose of a vaccine are allowed to cross into Queensland.
āThere are too many people crossing the border, so that means we want to put even tighter restrictions on our border,ā Palaszczuk said.
āIt only takes one person crossing the border with Delta and weāre into a lockdown.
āNow I donāt want that and I know Queenslanders donāt want that.ā
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said there would be a widespread review later this week of which workers who live in NSW are really āessentialā for Queensland.
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The director-general of the premierās department Rachel Hunter will conduct the review.
Young said the review will be completed later this week and new border restrictions would come into effect next week.
She said border closures and lockdowns remain the best health responses to outbreaks until 70 per cent of the population is vaccinated.
āThen people will be able to go about their lives,ā she said.
āOtherwise, I can see in the future that the people who arenāt vaccinated, are going to have to minimise their lives to protect their own health and safety.ā
Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said 5700 vehicles were intercepted at the borders on Tuesday, down from 7700 on Monday.
He said 513 cars were turned back to NSW on Tuesday, down from 1090 on Monday.
Gollschewski said police would not stop the āvery rigid applicationā of public health orders.
āWeāre hearing lots of sad stories around how this impacts on people. Iām terribly sorry about that; we are going to continue to do that,ā he said.
āYou must meet the requirements to enter the state or youāre simply not entering.ā
The entire state of NSW is locked down with tight restrictions but authorities are concerned that 70 per cent of transmission is occurring in homes.
The likelihood of household transmission is reduced by about 50 per cent by three to four weeks after vaccination.
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