The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in Adelaide which grew to 17 cases overnight Sunday has impacted on the current opening up of borders and lifting of travel restrictions in Australia, potentially impacting on tourism recovery across the country.
New South Wales has left its borders open to South Australians without restrictions, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying, “we need to learn to live with COVID”.
Queensland has imposed new quarantine restrictions, but only to Adelaide residents not the entire state of South Australia, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying anyone entering Queensland from Adelaide from 11:59pm Monday would be put into quarantine and Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young urging anyone who had entered from Adelaide in the last week to come forward for testing.
Victoria has declared South Australia a hotspot but is not imposing a border closure or quarantine, with travellers from SA into Melbourne airport to be interviewed and may be required to be tested.
ACT has added South Australia to its list of concerned jurisdictions.
NT has introduced a 14 day quarantine, with Chief Minister Michael Gunner saying that anyone from SA who had flown into NT today, believed to be Monday or tomorrow, believed to be Tuesday would avoid the $2,500 fee for quarantine.
Tasmania has also introduced a 14 day quarantine for South Australian travellers into a fortnight of quarantine, including anyone on a ferry at the time.
A report by John Alwyn-Jones
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