NSW records 478 Covid-19 cases

Another seven deaths have been recorded in New South Wales as the state recorded 478 Covid-19 cases overnight.

The announcement came as Queensland toughened restrictions on travellers trying to cross the border from NSW – as the Sunshine State’s police commissioner vowed to stop ‘every vehicle’ at the interstate border.  

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said essential workers coming across the border from NSW will be required to have one dose of a Covid vaccine from this Friday.

‘Police are stopping everyone coming in from our southern states at our airports, and stopping everyone coming in on the roads,’ she said.   

‘These measures are strict and we will be enforcing them,’ she said. 

‘It is inconvenient but this is necessary to keep Queenslanders safe.’ 

Pictured are pedestrians arriving at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney’s west on Monday morning

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she expected most essential workers who needed to cross between NSW and Queensland would already be vaccinated.

‘[But] as another protection, at the latest by Friday, [essential workers] must have had at least one dose of vaccine,’ she said.

On Sunday Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said ‘you will see every vehicle being intercepted coming into Queensland.’ 

‘I ask Queenslanders not to travel into New South Wales and those coming from NSW can only come in if they have an exemption or are part of the essential worker group.’  

Long queues had formed at the Coolangatta-Tweed Heads border checks on Monday morning, with people waiting up to two hours to cross.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told the Today Show there were delays of 35-45 minutes for motorists. 

Queensland Police said it will check ‘every vehicle’ entering the state from NSW as fears grow about the spread of the Delta variant, with only a restricted category of essential workers permitted to cross between the states

‘The problem is people are turning up not sure what to do and not having the right exemptions,’ he said. ‘And not having the right exemptions, they’re getting turned around.

‘A week ago we were turning around less than 100 vehicles a day. 

‘We’ve gone over 600 in the last 24 hours.’  

Deputy Premier Steven Miles confirmed a memorandum of understanding had been signed with the Federal government to build a quarantine site at an ex-military site at Pinkenba, in Brisbane’s inner east.

The facility is expected to be open by the middle of next year. 

Ms Palaszczuk said the facility, if complemented by another regional one, would end the need for hotel quarantine. 

Ms Palaszczuk said on Sunday that she was ‘very concerned’ about the detection of Covid-19 cases in regional NSW including in the state’s north and Byron Bay.

NSW responded on Saturday afternoon by locking down all of its regional areas for at least the next seven days.

‘Because all of NSW is in a lockdown position, there should be very minimal movement over that border,’ Ms Palaszczuk said during a press conference on Sunday.

Queensland has recorded zero new Covid-19 cases and tightened its border closure with New South Wales over fears of its regional outbreak spreading interstate

‘This is probably the tightest our border controls have been put in place, they are very strict… we are checking people and of course there’s very minimal reason for that movement.

‘It’s only if you’re an essential worker and we’ll be checking freight.’  

Residents who live in seven LGAs on either side of the NSW-Queensland border are allowed to cross the border for a ‘permitted purpose’, including work, medical treatment, care of a family member and childcare.

Under new Queensland Health restrictions announced last week, however, teachers, childcare workers, hospitality workers, sales reps and construction workers on non-critical projects are not permitted to enter Queensland from NSW.   

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was ‘very concerned’ about the detection of Covid-19 cases in regional NSW including in the state’s north and Byron Bay

‘We are not out of the woods yet – if you have any symptoms, please go and get a test, that’s critical,’ Ms Palaszczuk said on Sunday.

One Covid-19 case was uncovered in hotel quarantine.

Deputy Chief Health Officer James Smith advised all people in southeast Queensland, especially the Gold Coast, to wear a mask.

Queensland recorded six new locally acquired cases on Saturday, including a one-year-old child who is currently in hospital.

Authorities said the infant case, the youngest in the current cluster, showed how easily the Delta strain infected children.

Ms Palaszczuk has warned that the 143-strong Indooroopilly cluster, in Brisbane’s west, is unlikely to have fully exhausted itself (pictured, Queenslanders at a mass vaccination hub at Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre)

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk