Concerned Mungindi residents are expressing fear over QLD Health’s decision to shut NSW residents out of the town’s hospital amid COVID-19 restrictions.

The border town is home to residents of both states, but only Queenslanders will be able to access the Mungindi Hospital given its location on the same side of the border.

The strict border rules will mean that NSW residents living in Mungindi will have to travel more than an hour to Moree if they require access to essential health services.

This extends to healthcare workers who are unable to cross the Queensland border for work.

Meanwhile, the hospital itself has been reduced back to less staff and fewer services – it is currently only operating the emergency department and a vaccination clinic.

Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall has thrown his support behind the outraged community, writing to QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on the morning of Monday, August 23.

“This heartless and draconian decision is already impacting hundreds of locals, preventing them from accessing their local hospital and their only source of primary, allied and acute medical services for a distance of more than 120 kilometres,” Mr Marshall said.

“To highlight the ridiculousness of this situation, locals now cannot even access the hospital for their COVID-19 vaccination appointments, preventing them from protecting themselves and their loved ones from the very virus that your government’s decision is designed to aid in suppressing.”

“I am also aware that employees at the hospital who live on the NSW side of the border are also being prevented from crossing to work in the hospital.”

“No-one can explain to me, nor the local community, the rationale behind this unprecedented decision.”

“It smacks of overreach, but dangerously, it is denying locals their basic right of access to medical services.”

“It’s putting the community’s health and the lives of locals, at extreme risk.”

“This situation is unjustified, unfair and downright dangerous.”

Mr Marshall claims this is one of the worst decisions made by the state throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, labelling it a “bastard act”.

“We’ve seen the Queensland government do some unbelievable things with regard to hard borders over the last 12 months, but this takes the cake,” he said.

“This is a bastard act in the extreme – denying basic health services to a community because of a line on a map – and it must be reversed!”

Moree Plains Shire Council mayor Katrina Humphries is just as baffled by the decision, claiming it lacks empathy and logic.

“I don’t think anyone’s thought about the impact these rules are having on regional communities,” she said.

“Between our shire, Narrabri, Gwydir, Inverell, Glen Innes and Tenterfield, there’s about 75,000km2, with a population of about 75,000 people, we can’t just be forgotten about. I don’t understand why the QLD and NSW premiers can’t have a five-minute conversation and figure out a solution.”

“If they could declare Mungindi as belonging wholly to just one of the states, so all residents are following the same rules, that would solve the problem.”

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro assured concerned residents that conversations between NSW and QLD are underway.

“We’ve reached out to the QLD government to try to come to a solution” Mr Barilaro said in a press conference on Wednesday, August 25.

“Access to health and medical resources have always been exempt when it came to border lockdowns – this decision from QLD caught us by surprise and we’re still working through it.”

“Unfortunately I don’t have any further updates but, as soon as an agreement has been reached, we will be making that information known publicly.”

Cr Humphries said the hospital’s closure is a slap in the face for people who’ve done nothing but follow the COVID rules over the course of the pandemic.

“Our communities, especially those living on the border, have continuously done the right thing,” she said.

“Our testing rates and vaccination rates are solid, we’re geographically isolated, we’ve kept our COVID cases down – yet we’re being subjected to the same statewide lockdown with no guidance on how border towns like Mungindi are supposed to continue operating.”

“We haven’t remained COVID-free by some kind of miracle, we’ve worked hard to stay safe.”

Federal members Mark Coulton and David Littleproud are calling for a border bubble, a solution that Cr Humphries supports.

“I’m pleading that we please be taken out of this lockdown as soon as possible – the lockdown we had no warning for – so our border bubble can be reinstated,” Cr Humphries said.

“The current restrictions were put in place with no local consultation, without any concern for the impact it would have on the existing border arrangement.”

“We worked enormously hard to make that bubble functional and I just don’t see why there can’t be a bit of empathy for a township of around 600 people who have no positive cases of COVID.”

“And that border bubble was a great incentive for people in the area to keep doing the right thing and make sure everyone else is following the rules too, yet it’s been taken away from them with no warning and no alternative solution.”

“If we come out of lockdown soon, local businesses and people can prepare for the coming school holidays – we have a huge number of students at school in Queensland and it would be very advantageous to have the freedom to reach them.”

The border decision not only causes extra stress and inconvenience for residents, but Cr Humphries says it could limit the abilities of Moree Plains Shire Council.

“We manage all of the water and sewerage for the entire town of Mungindi, and if medical staff can’t cross the border to QLD, then I’m sure our Council workers won’t be able to either,” she said.

“So, if there’s an issue with the water or sewerage on the northern side of town, how can we send Moree Plains Shire Council across to fix it?”

“And while I don’t think our workers are any less critical than the healthcare staff, and we wouldn’t want any harm to come to the people of Mungindi, these new rules just make it impossible for Council to do their job.”

Cr Humphries also voiced concerns of what this shut down means for the hospital.

“I’m worried the QLD Health could use this as an excuse to keep that hospital closed, which would be a great sadness,” she said.

“In the meantime we’re seeing a lot of patients moved to other hospitals, some in QLD and I know of at least one that’s come to Moree.”

In order to show how well the area has been keeping safe from infection, Moree Plains Shire Council has requested additional sewage testing.

“Our COVID testing rates and vaccination rates are good, so we decided to request more sewage testing to prove there’s no infection in the community,” Cr Humphries said.

“Moree has weekly testing done but, even prior to lockdown, we asked for more testing in the waste facilities in Mungindi, Boggabilla and Toomelah. Our request was denied, we were told the services were already overrun and couldn’t cope with more testing sites.”

Moree Plains Shire Council has continued liaising with government to try to organise another assessment of local sewerage, but the areas are still yet to receive those tests.

The body is currently considering alternative companies to undertake the COVID sewerage testing, which will ultimately come at an additional cost to council.

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