BREAKING:
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just announced on Twitter that “Cabinet has decided to close Queensland’s borders.”
The Borders will close from midnight Wednesday in a bid to contain the coronavirus outbreak after 60 new cases in the past 24 hours.
New arrivals into Queensland will have to self-quarantine for 14 days.
It’s believed that freight and essential transport will be exempt.
The news comes off the back off the announcement that Queensland has recorded its highest increase of coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, with 60 new cases confirmed overnight.
One patient has been placed into intensive care, the first since the outbreak began in Queensland.
Chief Health Officer of Queensland, Dr Jeanette Young, confirmed the increase to the state’s total number of cases to 319.
Ms Young said, “while normal work was continuing in hospitals, some patients may be alerted of changes to their elective surgeries.”
She urged people who regularly donate blood to keep donating after the Red Cross reported a decreased number of donations.
Meanwhile, Kennedy MP Bob Katter is calling for North Queensland to be closed off from the rest of the state as the coronavirus crisis escalates.
"I am calling today, on the State and Federal Government to quarantine North Queensland"
“Locking off the Queensland border as the Premier has just announced will not protect lives in North Queensland.
“There is a mass outbreak in south-east Queensland already, we are yet to see anything like those numbers in the North. We don't have the medical resources to deal with a mass outbreak, especially considering our elderly population.
“The North must be isolated immediately. Road freight going in and out should be fumigated or prime movers swapped.”
