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Queensland has declared the entirety of Greater Melbourne a COVID-19 ‘hotspot’, although the decision in itself is unlikely to pose a problem for Supercars.
While the new declaration of Queensland Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, creates new quarantine obligations for returnees to the Sunshine State, an exception applies to Melbourne Airport.
Around a third of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship grid is based in South East Queensland and the field is due to race at Winton, in Victoria’s north, on July 18-19.
Under Queensland’s border restrictions, residents who have visited an officially designated hotspot in the past 14 days must quarantine for 14 days upon their return to the state.
The new hotspot designation includes the City of Hume Local Government Area, in which Melbourne Airport (commonly referred to as ‘Tullamarine’) is located.
Supercars crew members would nevertheless be free to transit through the facility on their way to the Truck Assist Winton event due to a general exception granted by the Queensland Government to travellers.
“(I)ndividuals entering the Hume LGA for the sole purpose of accessing the airport or by virtue of a flight transiting through the airport are not considered to have ‘visited’ the hotspot,” reads advice on the government’s website.
“However, individuals who leave the airport and go out into the local community would be classified as visiting a hotspot whilst the area the airport is located remains a hotspot.”
Victoria has moved to reimpose/tighten some coronavirus-related restrictions due to fresh outbreaks, including a two-month high of 25 new cases reported yesterday.
Supercars itself will promote the Winton event due to the possibility of crowds not being allowed but is expected to soon make a submission to the Victorian government regarding that matter.
The season resumes with the BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint at Sydney Motorsport Park, behind closed doors, next weekend.
