MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2020) Queensland's Chief Health Officer declared the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) a hotspot of COVID-19, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Wednesday, adding that the state's border with the region will be closed over the weekend to prevent the spread of infections.
"The situation in Victoria hasn't improved as we hoped and I'm not prepared to wait for New South Wales cases to get any worse. So, from 1am Saturday, Queensland borders will be closed to Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. #covid19," Palaszczuk wrote on Twitter.
Last week, the premier declared the Greater Sydney area a new COVID-19 hotspot in the country and imposed a temporary ban on entries to the state from the region.
Meanwhile, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday that the state, which is now experiencing a new surge in infections, registered record 725 COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, noting that 15 more people died from the disease over the same period.
Australia has so far registered 18,729 COVID-19 cases. A total of 12,335 of them were recorded in Victoria state, 3,809 in New South Wales and 1,085 in Queensland.�
