Tasmania has virtually banned travel from Greater Brisbane and anyone on the island state who’s recently visited the region must isolate for two weeks.
The Queensland government on Friday imposed a three-day city-wide lockdown after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel was diagnosed with the highly contagious UK variant of COVID-19.
Anyone in Tasmania who’s been in Greater Brisbane since January 2 has been ordered to immediately quarantine from Friday.
The area has been declared high-risk, meaning people can only enter Tasmania under special exemptions.
“I recognise this will cause significant disruption to travel plans,” Premier Peter Gutwein said.
“I am sorry about that but the health and safety of Tasmanians is my number one priority.
“Hopefully the lockdown will enable the Queensland government to get on top of this quickly.”
People without a suitable residence to quarantine will be placed into a government-operated hotel.
There are a couple of thousand people in Tasmania who have recently visited Greater Brisbane, Public Health Director Mark Veitch said.
Veitch hinted at an imminent relaxation of quarantine requirements for Greater Sydney after restrictions were brought in following the northern beaches outbreak.
The Tasmanian government has sent an SMS with advice to recent arrivals from Greater Brisbane.
Greater Brisbane covers five council areas of Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Ipswich and Logan.
From 6 pm Friday until 6 pm Monday, residents of the area are required to stay at home except for essential work, exercise, essential shopping and to access healthcare or look after the vulnerable.
