A snap lockdown in Brisbane days out from the Easter weekend threatens to spark nationwide chaos.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ordered a three-day lockdown for Greater Brisbane from 5pm on Monday, after four new community cases of coronavirus were detected in the past 24 hours.
"I know this is a really big call. I know it is very tough but let's do it now and let's do it right," she told reporters.
Anyone who has been in Brisbane since March 20 has been told to abide by the lockdown.
Victoria has declared Greater Brisbane a "red zone" from 6pm AEDT under its travel permit system.
All Queenslanders will be locked out of Western Australia from midnight, unless they have an exemption, after the McGowan government moved to reintroduce a hard border.
The hardline measure also applies to anyone from other states who has been in Queensland since March 27.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said her state would not shut the border, but asked residents eyeing a trip north over the Easter break to change their plans.
South Australia imposed a hard border on Monday afternoon, banning entry from Greater Brisbane and requiring the testing and isolating of those who had arrived since March 20.
Restrictions have also been imposed in the ACT, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed the snap lockdown, saying it would allow Queensland health authorities to get on top of the latest outbreak.
"Thank you to all the residents of the Greater Brisbane region for your patience and cooperation as you head into another three-day lockdown," he wrote on Facebook.
"Australia has been here many times before, whether it's been the recent outbreaks in Queensland, NSW, Victoria or South Australia, so we all know what to do."
But questions have been raised about whether it would have been necessary if the vaccine had been rolled out faster.
Ms Palaszczuk took a subtle dig at the federal government over its slow vaccination rollout.
She said local outbreaks and lockdowns were going to be part of the Australian way of life until everyone was vaccinated.
"It is very important that the vaccination rollout continues and that people continue to book in with their GPs, especially those GPs that are administering the vaccine," the premier said.
"But until we have the population vaccinated there is of course the risk of community transmission."
Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese expressed similar concerns.
"It just confirms what people have been saying for a long time: the vaccine rollout is our ticket out of this pandemic. We have to get a wriggle on," he said.
Virgin Australia asked customers to ensure they check the latest information on government health websites prior to travel and warned flight schedules may be adjusted.
More than 541,000 Australians have received their first vaccines, including 259,000 in the past week.
There have been 82,500 aged care residents inoculated across 795 facilities.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed asymptomatic testing has been authorised across Greater Brisbane.
Vaccination is a legitimate excuse to leave home during the lockdown.
Aged care response teams are also taking pre-emptive action in case of a spread.
The lockdown will cause major headaches for families planning to visit Brisbane over Easter, as well as the many thousands of hospitality and tourism companies who rely on their business.
It also comes just a day after JobKeeper payments were wound up, leaving almost one million Australian workers facing an uncertain future.
Treasury estimates up to 150,000 jobs could be lost without the wage subsidies, with about 100,000 vulnerable businesses expected to collapse.
Australian Associated Press
