Many of the 12,000 people stranded interstate are waiting for Queensland to scrap COVID-19 quarantine before they return, while 1319 people have successfully applied to isolate at home, the deputy police commissioner says.
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The new program allows fully vaccinated domestic travellers who test negative for the coronavirus to quarantine at home in Queensland if they live within two hours' drive from an airport and have direct, external, "fresh air" access to their dwelling.
Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski says 141 people have started home quarantine since the application system went online at 5pm on Monday.
He says 1319 border passes for home quarantine have been issued, with more than 12,000 people on the waiting list to enter Queensland.
The state plans to scrap quarantine for fully vaccinated domestic arrivals once 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders are vaccinated, or December 17 at the latest.
"We understand that a lot of people are just waiting to see what happens when we get 80 per cent, probably preferring to come in then," Mr Gollschewski told ABC radio on Wednesday.
Figures show 83.21 per cent of Queenslanders have had one dose of a vaccine and 71.60 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The home quarantine requirements have faced criticism, particularly the need for direct, external, "fresh air" access, which makes most apartment dwellers ineligible.
Queenslanders stranded just over the NSW border are also upset they aren't allowed to travel by car to home quarantine, even if they live within two hours' drive of the border.
The deputy commissioner said the option of home quarantine for drivers was "considered really carefully", but the government decided it wasn't safe.
"That doesn't mean that that makes it easier for people. We understand completely," he said.
Mr Gollschewski also revealed there was no longer any human oversight of home quarantine applications, with passes issued automatically as long as people gave correct answers.
"So this is one of those security systems that has logic built into it," Mr Gollschewski said.
"They answer the questions correctly, they provide the evidence that has to be uploaded, and it will issue the pass immediately."
Meanwhile, the state government says it will pay people to fill hundreds of vacant tourism jobs in the state's north and west after quarantine is scrapped for vaccinated domestic travellers on December 17.
It's offering people who fill the roles $1500 over six months, and a $250 bonus if they move more than 100km to take up a job.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there had been a surge in tourism bookings after the mid-December deadline to ease travel restrictions on fully vaccinated domestic travellers.
"That means in our tourism industry, we're creating more jobs than we have Queenslanders who want to fill them," she told parliament on Wednesday.
"I'm advised that currently we have hundreds of vacancies in our tourism and hospitality sectors throughout the state."
Queensland on Wednesday recorded no new local COVID-19 cases, with one new case in hotel quarantine after 10,871 tests.
Australian Associated Press
