Australia Covid live news: Qld closes border to all of NSW: Gladys Berejiklian to provide update; Victoria records 26 new cases

We can’t ease here without greater assurance of greater protection from the risk of people travelling from other states with the virus into our state, and so we need to be able to reduce that risk.

We’ve seen in recent days, ongoing escalations in case numbers, and numbers infectious in the community in New South Wales, increases in case numbers in Victoria and escalations in South Australia.

Also, thanks to the lockdowns currently in place in Victoria, South Australia and Greater Sydney that we have reciprocated, our border is effectively closed to those people already, but in order to be able to ease these restrictions as I’ve outlined, we need to close the border to the rest of New South Wales.

That will mirror the arrangements currently in place in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

There will be a border zone in place for people who live and need to travel within the communities around the border so the [border] pass that those border communities will be familiar with will be available, and allow that travel for essential purposes.

It will extend itself to Clarence Valley and west to the South Australian Border. It will allow people to move around those communities for essential reasons, all of the things that you would expect things like schools, to go to school to go to work out for healthcare, or to care for others.