State borders of Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory slammed shut immediately to South Australia yesterday, with authorities rushing to contact about 7000 people who entered Queensland from Adelaide since last Monday.
Lord Mayor isolates as border closed

How Adelaide’s outbreak started
They will be asked to get tested and isolate, while Queenslanders coming in from South Australia from today will have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine for two weeks.

The nation’s chief medical officers held emergency talks on Monday morning following news of the Adelaide outbreak, which stemmed from a COVID medi-hotel.The new cluster had blown out from three to 17 cases since Sunday – with a total of 34 active cases in the state – although many are connected to the same family. Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly declared “we will defeat this virus”.A series of strict lockdowns have already been implemented in SA in a bid to prevent another Melbourne-like outbreak, including shutting gyms, pubs and restaurants being limited to 10 customers, while people are being urged to work from home and limit visitors. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk slammed borders shut to Adelaide from midnight, while anyone who arrived yesterday had to get tested and isolate for 14 days. That included Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who just returned from Adelaide.
NED-2771-Adelaide COVID-19 cluster
Only Queensland residents returning home from Adelaide will be allowed to enter the state, but they will have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine.Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the outbreak posed a concern to Queensland, pointing to the large number of flights that had arrived from Adelaide.“The last thing we want to see is Queenslanders having to go into any form of lockdown,” she said.“But this cluster outbreak is of concern.”Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young described the outbreak as a rapid increase in cases, saying some had been in complex situations such as prison and school.“So we need to get more information about where the risks are,” she said.

Dr Young said those people who had already travelled to Queensland from Adelaide should still self-quarantine for 14 days in an accommodation of their choosing, even if their COVID-19 test results come back negative.But NSW has decided to remain open to South Australia, in addition to its planned reopening to Victoria next week. It has created further confusion in Queensland as to how a “border bubble” arrangement with regional NSW will be policed if it is open to both states, with Queenslanders able to mix with South Australians and Victorians and then come back over the border. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said further outbreaks were always to be expected and the acting CMO Paul Kelly said SA would get on top of the virus.“It’s not what happened, but how we respond to it. That’s how we will defeat this virus,” Prof Kelly said.
NED-1859 State of our borders
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the outbreak was a wake-up call for the country, but noted outbreaks had been caught on contained before – including in NSW and Queensland.“The testing and tracing will now be put to the test in South Australia,” he said.Mr Morrison said it was up to states on whether to impose borders, but he hoped they were a temporary response.“What is important is these don’t get sort of locked in as part of another enduring disruption and as soon as South Australia is able to get on top of this I would expect that states would keep on the path that we have set towards Christmas,” he said.“It is a very timely reminder here and all around the country, whether you have been behind borders or not, the virus doesn’t care.”Mr Morrison said the virus could spread if people did not follow COVID-safe behaviours, like social distancing, hand hygiene and checking in when you go to a restaurant or bar. “Borders don’t protect you from that,” he said.

Dr Young said it was unlikely that the virus was circulating in South Australia prior to last Monday, but encouraged anyone with symptoms to come forward for testing.“We know all the people who have come into our state from Adelaide, so we’re going to be able to contact them all and make sure that they get themselves tested,” Dr Young said.She said Adelaide would need 28 days of no further unlinked community transmission for it to no longer be declared a COVID hot spot.But she would not say if another border review would happen before Christmas, beyond the one that is scheduled for the end of November.“I think it’s far too early to be discussing any of those issues,” Dr Young said.“Let’s work out what it is, what it means and what we need to do.”

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