As states impose hard borders on New South Wales amidst its "unfolding" COVID-19 Delta outbreak, which has now spread to a regional town, all eyes are on whether Queensland will follow suit.
It is a decision residents on the Queensland-NSW border have been anxiously awaiting, with many concerned about the impact it would have on businesses.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders in any part of NSW to come home, warning if the virus continued to spread, she "wouldn't hesitate" to introduce a hard border.
During the peak of the pandemic last year, Queensland maintained hard borders with NSW for an extended period, attracting criticism from the NSW and federal governments.
Monitoring 'every single day'
Despite the Delta variant outbreak in the southern state, Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday she was confident in her advice from health authorities, who were closely monitoring sewage results in NSW.
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"We're seeing more and more cases, we're seeing more hospitalisations and we're monitoring whether it's spreading to other parts of New South Wales," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"So if we do see it spreading to other parts of New South Wales, we won't hesitate to shut the border.
"[The Chief Health Officer] is providing us with advice every single day and we will continue to monitor the situation in New South Wales every single day."
The southern state recorded 89 new COVID cases yesterday, including one detected in Goulbourn, about 200 kilometres south-west of Sydney.
The spread to regional areas of the state comes after Queensland's Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, said cases recorded outside the Greater Sydney area, currently in lockdown, "would be a concern".
Dr Young said she was seeking more information on the regional case.
She said if NSW was to re-set their restrictions, that would "be another thing to look at".
On Monday, Dr Young said there were a series of factors she considered on a daily basis when providing health advice on restrictions with NSW.
Those included examining NSW's sewage testing results and the number of COVID tests carried out.
States close borders to NSW
On Sunday afternoon, Victorian health authorities ordered the effective closure of its border with NSW and the ACT, declaring the states "red zones".
West Australia and South Australia also have a hard border with NSW.
Currently, Queensland has declared the Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Woollongong and Shell Harbour regions of NSW as COVID-19 hotspots.
Queensland introduced a hard border with NSW and the ACT in August 2020, which Ms Palaszczuk said was due to people lying to authorities, breaching border requirements and broader restrictions being in place for several months.
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2021-07-13 19:40:05Z
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