Western Australia will introduce a hard border with Queensland as an immediate measure to reduce the risk of the virus coming into the WA community.
Following the WA Chief Health Officer's latest health advice, Queensland will transition from a 'very low risk' State to a 'medium risk' State under WA's controlled interstate border regime, from 12.01am tomorrow (January 9, 2021).
Anyone who has arrived into Western Australia today (January 8, 2021) from Queensland will be tested on arrival at the airport and will be required to self-quarantine immediately for 14 days, and be tested again on day 11.
Effective immediately, anyone who has arrived from Queensland since January 2 or was in Queensland from January 2 and has since arrived in WA will be required to do the following:
- self-quarantine in a suitable premise until you have spent 14 days in WA;
- present for an initial COVID-19 test by Tuesday, January 12;
- present for a COVID-19 test if any symptoms develop during quarantine;
- present for a COVID-19 test on day 11 after arrival in WA (if still in WA).
Anyone who has arrived from Queensland since January 2 will be contacted by WA Police with these instructions, as a result of the G2G Pass declaration system in place in WA.
For anyone who has come into contact with someone who recently arrived from Queensland, they do not need to self-quarantine and only need to be tested for COVID-19 if symptoms develop.
Travel from Queensland will no longer be permitted, unless you are an exempt traveller. This also applies to anyone who may have been in Queensland since January 2 and has not completed 14 days in a lower risk State or Territory. The exemption list is limited to:
- certain senior Government officials;
- certain active military personnel;
- a member of the Commonwealth Parliament;
- a person carrying out functions under a law of the Commonwealth;
- a person responsible for transport freight or logistics; and
- anyone who is given approval by State Emergency Coordinator or an authorised officer.
The final category includes compassionate reasons - including those Western Australians that may have travelled to Queensland recently and need to return to WA.
These people will be assessed by WA Police and will be required to complete 14 days of self-quarantine and be tested for COVID-19 on arrival and on day 11.
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
"Our health officials and Queensland health officials jointly agree the recent case in Queensland is a dangerous situation, not only for Brisbane but for the whole of Australia.
"We are not just dealing with the COVID-19 of 2020 - this is a whole new beast and we must take action to prevent this deadly virus from spreading into our community.
"Our thoughts are with our friends and family in Queensland tonight, when they go into lockdown, they are not just doing it for Queensland - they are doing it for the whole nation.
"We must all do out bit, to keep our community safe. These are extraordinary circumstances.
"All the way along, throughout this pandemic, our best defence has been our border controls.
"Now is not the time to be taking unnecessary risks or being complacent. This is why we have moved swiftly to strengthen our border controls with Queensland.
"I understand the reintroduction of a hard border with Queensland is going to cause many problems for many people, but we need to take this course of action to protect all Western Australians.
"It's important to know that if you are a recent arrival from Queensland or arriving today, before midnight, you are free to depart WA and return to Queensland.
"What we know now, compared to this time last year, is that the best approach is to eliminate the virus from our community.
"The Western Australian community has been COVID free now for 272 days - that's nearly nine months.
"We don't want to see community transmission in WA, because we know that means people's lives will be put at risk and businesses will shut.
"Thank you to everyone for your understanding and patience. I recognise these changes will result in many challenges but they are essential in keeping COVID-19 out."
