Queensland records no new cases of COVID-19 as Sydney teenagers test negative

Hundreds more people have been turned back at the Queensland-NSW border, as two teenage girls who travelled to the Sunshine Coast from declared hotspot Sydney have tested negative for COVID-19. Police say 230 people were refused entry to Queensland at the Gold Coast border checkpoints in the 24 hours to 4pm on today. It followed 254 people being turned around at the checkpoints in the same period on Sunday and Monday. The mass turnarounds come after Queensland all but shut its border to NSW and the ACT on Saturday. Only Tweed Shire residents are able to cross into Queensland but cannot travel any further north than the Gold Coast under a ‘border bubble’ arrangement. Some people living in the Tweed and further south have complained that under the new arrangements, they cannot work in Brisbane. Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said some people living outside the border zone were trying to test the new restrictions, while others did not understand the requirements. Meanwhile, two teenage girls who allegedly breached Queensland’s health directives and travelled from hotspot Sydney without quarantining have tested negative for COVID-19. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning said Queensland had once again recorded no new cases of coronavirus overnight. She said residents of Logan and Ipswich among other suburbs responded well over the last few weeks. Ms Palaszczuk thanked the police for the great work they did tracking down two teenagers who were found in Noosa. She said Queensland had a three-month streak of no community transfer until the “selfishness of a few undid the hard work of the many.” “Anxiety crept back into Queensland,” she told parliament. “But … the people of Queensland especially those in Logan, Springfield and Ipswich, responded exactly as a united community should. “When COVID came, these Queenslanders came in their thousands to meet it.” It’s understood the two girls were among the passengers interviewed by police, who were waiting to meet the Sydney train at the Roma Street station. However, they were not honest about having been in Sydney. Mr Ryan’s office yesterday said checks at train stations were the same as at airports and at road borders. But he could not provide details on Monday on the girls’ arrival. Police have said the girls were not honest about the fact they had been in Sydney. But Mr Ryan’s office has confirmed they arrived on a train that originated in Sydney. Health Minister Steven Miles said in a statement: “The test results for the two women arrested in Noosa yesterday have come back negative.” It is now 10 days since Queensland’s last locally acquired case. Mr Steven Miles said it didn’t take much to spark an outbreak. But he said despite challenges over the last few weeks, Queensland remained on top of COVID-19. It comes as border checkpoints at train stations will come under the microscope due to the girls’ alleged COVID-19 breach. Extraordinary scenes unfolded at a Noosa shopping centre on Monday when police swooped on the teenagers, aged 15 and 16, and put masks on them before shutting down some stores. Police Superintendent Craig Hawkins said the two girls, who cannot be legally named because they are underage, arrived in Brisbane by train on Friday before the state’s borders closed and made their way to the Sunshine Coast. It is understood they were without adult supervision when they arrived in a train at Brisbane Transit Centre from Sydney, which is a coronavirus “hotspot”. “They weren’t completely honest with where they had been,” Supt Hawkins said. “But later on we discovered that they had come from a hotspot.” It’s unclear how police made the realisation the girls had been in Sydney and tracked them to Noosa on Monday. Police Minister Mark Ryan said he would talk to the Police Commissioner around border checkpoints at train stations after the teens were able to circumvent the border restrictions. “We are constantly looking at how we are posturing across the state, whether it‘s seaports or road ports, through transit corridors, so the Queensland police are constantly looking at what they’re doing,” Mr Ryan said. It’s understood some shops at the Noosa Civic Shopping Centre were closed on Monday as a precaution. One girl was from the Sunshine Coast and the other from NSW, Supt Hawkins said. “I stress that there is no information to suggest that they are carriers of the disease, however in the interests of safety and certainly because they have come from a hotspot we were keen to ensure that they have undertaken the right testing to ensure that Queensland doesn’t find itself in a situation where it might be contaminated,” he said. Supt Hawkins said it was likely the girls, who cannot legally be named, would be placed in quarantine but could not confirm if they would be charged. They were tested yesterday. “They are young ladies and … they probably, maybe, don’t understand the full criteria that’s currently applying with CHO (Chief Health Officer) directives,” Supt Hawkins said. Witnesses reported seeing two females being transported by police from the shopping centre into a police vehicle with masks on. “Two young girls got stopped outside the shop and told to sit on the floor, police gave them masks and shut all the doors of the shops, we’re all locked in,” one woman said. Police officers are stationed at all ports and borders – including train stations – as part of COVID-19 measures and ask travellers about where they have been. Mr Ryan said police were investigating the circumstances of the girls’ arrival into Queensland. “Sometimes people are going to lie, sometimes people are going to defeat the system,” he said. “Well those people will be found out and they can expect a response from the Queensland Police Service.” More than 250 people were turned back at Gold Coast border checkpoints on Sunday and Monday as the ban on NSW travellers kicked in. Three women were charged last month after allegedly providing misleading information about being in Melbourne. Two of the women tested positive to coronavirus.