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WA border restrictions: Quarantine travel with Queensland from Wednesday

Charlotte EltonThe West Australian
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Perth Airport will be soon be welcoming travellers from Queensland, without the need for quarantine.
Camera IconPerth Airport will be soon be welcoming travellers from Queensland, without the need for quarantine. Credit: Daniel Wilkins/The West Australian

People travelling from Queensland to WA will not be required to quarantine from Wednesday.

The government originally planned to classify the Sunshine State as “very low risk” from last Friday — but paused the move after an Uber driver on the Gold Coast tested positive for the virus.

QLD has not recorded any local cases since then, so the government will move ahead with easing the border from 12:01am on Wednesday, October 27.

“Western Australia’s border controls are safe and sensible, allowing WA to remain open without importing the virus from high-risk locations like New South Wales and Victoria,” Premier Mark McGowan said.

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“With the inclusion of Queensland as a ‘very low risk’ jurisdiction about 10 million Australians are free to come and go from WA, quarantine-free.”

Queensland joins Tasmania, South Australia and Northern Territory as jurisdictions classified as “very low risk”.

People in “extreme risk” NSW and Victoria continue to be banned, while arrivals from “medium risk” ACT must quarantine at home for 14 days.

Health Minister Roger Cook said that the controlled border was based on health advice.

“The Acting Chief Health Officer has advised the border controls can safely transition to ‘very low risk’ from Wednesday, pending no new cases,” he said.

“WA’s border controls with ACT, NSW and Victoria remain in place.”

It is likely that the hard border with Australia’s two most populous states will remain in place into 2022.

Mr McGowan has previously ruled out allowing fully vaccinated travellers from NSW and Victoria to quarantine at home for 14 days ahead of Christmas.

“We're not going to do that. When you are vaccinated you can still spread the virus,” Mr McGowan said last week.

“If there is health advice that reduces the risk levels of NSW well then obviously we would put that in place but at this point of time it is extreme risk.”

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