The ACT has lifted requirements for people arriving from south-east Queensland to stay at home after the state ended the regional lockdown.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But people arriving in Canberra will have to stay at home if they have been in Cairns or the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council area on or after July 29, after the Queensland government announced new restrictions for those areas.
ACT Health today said people arriving from south-east Queensland would no longer have to stay at home as of 4pm, unless they had also spent any time in Cairns Regional Council or the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council areas.
Travellers who had spent any time in south-east Queensland local government areas in the previous 14 days, and were seeking to enter the ACT, would still have to complete a declaration form before arriving in the territory.
"This allows ACT Health to contact and advise people directly should the COVID-19 situation in these areas evolve and travel requirements need to be escalated," the agency said this afternoon.
The form is available on the ACT COVID-19 website.
ACT Health said it would directly contact people who had been subject to stay-at-home requirements for south-east Queensland to advise them of the update, including in relation to the Cairns Regional Council or Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council areas.
The Queensland government's three-day lockdown for Cairns Regional Council and Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council has prompted the ACT to introduce a stay-at-home requirement for the two areas from 4pm today until at least 4pm Wednesday August 11.
ACT residents who had spent any time in the Cairns Regional Council and/or Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council, on or after July 29 will be required to complete an online declaration form within 24 hours prior to arriving in the ACT or within 24 hours from the commencement of the new stay-at-home requirements.
They will also have to travel directly to the residence they will spend the stay-at-home period, only leaving the residence for an approved essential purpose.
ACT Health also said they must wear a mask if leaving their premises for any of the essential purposes, except if they are undertaking vigorous exercise outdoors. Mask wearing is not required for children aged 12 or under.
ACT residents who had been to the Cairns Regional Council and/or Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council, and were a staff member, visitor or volunteer in a high-risk setting, should not visit or attend work for a period of 14 days since they were last in the area, the health agency said.
High-risk settings include hospitals, residential aged care facilities, correctional facilities and residential accommodation facilities that support people who require frequent, close personal care and who are vulnerable to severe disease.
Non-ACT residents seeking to travel from these areas to the ACT while restrictions are in place must not enter the ACT without an approved exemption, which would only be granted for exceptional circumstances, ACT Health said.
"Even if an exemption is approved, you will still be required to follow the stay-at-home requirement while you are in the ACT," the agency said.
"We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation in north Queensland closely. It is possible these restrictions may need to be tightened further to protect the ACT community, and people should be prepared for this to happen at short notice."
Eleven local government areas in south-east Queensland came out of an eight-day lockdown today amid a Delta variant outbreak that had grown to 111 cases.
Nine new cases were recorded on Sunday with seven linked to the Indooroopilly cluster centred on schools in western Brisbane.
IN COVID-19 NEWS:
None of those seven cases were infectious in the community, prompting Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to lift the lockdown.
"But we are not out of the woods," she told reporters.
"I just want everyone to have a really good understanding that we are dealing with the Delta strain.
"It is highly, highly infectious, and I can tell you from my conversations in Tokyo, with people around the world, this strain is sweeping the world."
As stay-at-home orders were eased in the south, Cairns and Yarrabah, in the far north, entered a three-day lockdown.
The order came after an unvaccinated taxi driver tested positive in Cairns overnight.
Queensland's chief health officer Jeannette Young said the man has been infectious for 10 days and she could not wait to make a risk assessment.
The south-east Queensland local government areas for which the ACT has lifted stay-at-home requirements are: Brisbane City Council, Gold Coast City Council, Ipswich City Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, Logan City Council, Moreton Bay Regional Council, Noosa Shire Council, Redland City Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Somerset Regional Council, Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
- with AAP
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram