The Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) has taken the decision to restrict the movement of non-essential persons into the Shire and reduce the risk of an outbreak or spread of a pandemic in Carpentaria Shire.

Carpentaria Shire Council is arranging for advice to the motoring public via Variable Message Signs (VMS) to be located at Julia Creek on the Sedan Dip Road and at Croydon on the Gulf Development Road. The road open/closure signage on the Burke Development Road at Cloncurry will also indicate the road closure to Normanton from that area.

Transport companies that require Restricted Road Use Permits are encouraged to obtain these through the usual arrangements and are available on the Council website at the following link: - www.carpentaria.qld.gov.au/discover/roads-and-weather

LDMG's guidelines restrict movement on these roads for essential travel only.

READ ALSO:

"There will be exceptional circumstances such as medical appointments where people will be required to travel and we ask those people in these circumstances to follow the restricted road use permit process to ensure accurate records can be kept and ask these people to adhere to the national standards of social-distancing, hygiene and self-isolation during their travels," LDMG said.

"Queensland police and Council encourage travellers to take this time to return home or stay put as tighter restrictions are put in place.

"Some travellers will not be able to get home due to border closures and will need to stay put in the Shire. We ask those travellers to adhere to the national guidelines around social - distancing and social isolation and remind residents in these challenging times to be supportive of those who will call Carpentaria their temporary home."

Chair of the LDMG group Jack Bawden is asking for cooperation off the community and the travelling public and asks that everyone respect the decision to close these roads to non-essential persons to assist in reducing the risk of an outbreak or spread of a pandemic in the Carpentaria Shire.

"It is important we put these measures in place to ensure the residents of our Shire are kept safe'.

This is an unprecedented event and needs to be treated with the seriousness it deserves. We all need to work together to keep our Shire safe and support local business as best we can. It is in these testing times that we need to come together as a community to support one another" Cr Bawden said.

"We thank the community for their support during this time and would like to remind them that we are here to assist in any way we can."

Other regions that have closed its borders include Diamentina Shire and Burke Shire.

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we aim to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.