Covid 19 -

[DJR-351]

Melbourne declared a COVID-19 hotspot for Queenslanders

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nat...21-p554mf.html

All of Melbourne's 31 local government areas have been declared COVID-19 hotspots for Queenslanders, meaning anyone who travels to the city must self-quarantine for 14 days on their return to Queensland.

On Sunday morning Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young updated the list of hotspots, adding all of Melbourne's local government areas and another five council areas bordering that city.

The update comes as Queensland forges ahead with the easing of restrictions.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles announced on Sunday morning that stadiums would be allowed to have up to 10,000 spectators for football matches from next weekend.

"We want to keep going forward ... but we won't be able to do that if we import cases and have local community transmission, and that's why that new quarantining requirement on all of those local government areas is incredibly important," Mr Miles said.

Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has cancelled further plans to ease restrictions in that state after a worrying spike in cases on Saturday.

Twenty-five new cases were recorded in Victoria on Saturday, up from 13 on Friday, which the Premier largely attributed to a rise in families ignoring social distancing rules while having large gatherings.

Victoria has had 1817 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in total, of which 110 are active and 200 were acquired through unknown transmission.

Mr Miles said calls from LNP politicians to reopen Queensland's borders were "reckless" given the current situation in Victoria, and that the state government would continue to assess the July border reopening date.

Opposition leader Deb Frecklington on Sunday again called for the Queensland borders to be reopened, saying the shutdown was costing thousands of jobs and dollars a day.

Queensland currently sits on 1066 cases, of which just three remain active, with one person in hospital, but not in intensive care. No new cases were recorded in the state in the past 24 hours.

On Sunday Dr Young was meeting with her peers from other states to discuss the escalating case numbers in Victoria and the potential impact on other states.

She confirmed that anyone flying into Melbourne's Tullamarine airport to transit elsewhere would not be considered to have visited a hotspot unless they leave the airport and go into the community.

Queensland's borders remain closed but residents may leave their home state if they have the appropriate permission, and if they are not going to a declared COVID-19 hotspot, they can return home without self-quarantining for 14 days.

But if a resident travels to or lives in a declared hotspot within 14 days of travel to Queensland, they must self-quarantine for a fortnight when they return home.

The stadiums reopening to large numbers of fans next weekend will have a COVID-Safe plan, including extra cleaning and sanitising, seating in segmented zones, and dedicated entry and exit points.

Sport Minister Mick de Brenni said the reopening of stadiums was not just a vote of confidence for football codes but was also a return to work for many employees.

When asked about the question of Queensland borders reopening, Mr de Brenni said: "Queenslanders have to come first."