By Juliano Oliveira
Queensland Government has declared six Local Government Areas (LGA) in Sydney a hotspot following an increase in cases of COVID-19 and the emerge of the Delta variant.
From 1 am tomorrow (24), travellers coming from areas of Sydney, Woollahra, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West and Randwick will not be allowed to enter Queensland. Waverley LGA has been a hotspot since 19 June 2021.
Returning Queensland residents who have been in any of these areas may enter the state but will be required to go into 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine.
“The recent cases in Sydney are very concerning due to many of these cases being infected by fleeting contact. The number of exposure sites is also rapidly increasing, with more than 120 exposure sites currently listed,” Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said.
“The Delta variant is much more contagious than other variants and we do not want it circulating in Queensland.
“These border measures are necessary to limit the spread, and we are following the lead of Victoria in implementing further border restrictions for New South Wales.”
As NSW Health identified new exposure sites, travellers who arrived in Queensland from interstate in the past 14 days are encouraged to check and monitor the latest contact tracing locations.
Cases
Dr Young said that genome sequencing results had confirmed that three cases recently detected in hotel quarantine at the Brisbane Airport Novotel are linked.
“Anyone who is currently on the same floor will have their stay extended until we confirm there’s been no additional transmission,” Dr Young said.
“Anyone who was on the same floor and has since left hotel quarantine will be contacted and will need to quarantine while these investigations are undertaken,” she said.
Queensland Health is also continuing investigations into the transmission event at the Four Points aircrew quarantine hotel.
“A review of CCTV cannot identify any breach of protocol, however, I do want to thank the hotel for their work and their cooperation,” Dr Young said.