Coronavirus as it happened: Greater Brisbane declared a hotspot, to enter lockdown after UK COVID strain found; WA to close border to Queensland

Four more flights are scheduled to land in Melbourne from Brisbane tonight at 9.10pm, 9.15pm, 9.40pm and 11.15pm.

Earlier, one Victorian family - made up of mum Jen, dad Dan and daughters Pippa and Tilda - said they were lucky they happened to be on a flight home from Queensland on Friday night, hours after Greater Brisbane had been declared a national hot spot.

The family, who did not wish to use their surname, had been holidaying in north Queensland near Mackay and only passed through Brisbane airport to transfer to a flight to Melbourne.

They said they were in the dark about whether they were required to be tested and isolate or not.

"We were on the ground [in Brisbane] for like 40 minutes," said Dan."We literally walked from one gate to another," said Jen.

The couple said they were both "very surprised" not to have been met by health authorities in Melbourne.

"We were just told to check our restrictions and it was our responsibility [to stay up to date]," said Jen.

Those people also must now isolate after the first test. No isolation period is required after day five or day 12 tests

The government's previous advice, announced earlier today, said there was no requirement for people to isolate while they awaited their test results.

People in South Australia also cannot attend any event that has more than 1000 people in attendance, or that is without an approved COVID management plan.

“But of course, [the] worst-case scenario is we’re seeing board community transmission and looking at everything that could be in between.

"Because it’s not just about the numbers of cases, it’s also about whether we can trace every one of those, whether there’s seeding happening which means whoever’s got it’s passing it on to other people in broader areas.”

Ms D’Ath added that none of the worker’s 79 close contacts identified so far had returned a positive test, though results for some were outstanding and people could potentially only test positive later along in their infection.

“And although those initial negatives are … very welcome, we have to remember we’re still within the 14-day window. We’ve had many cases of COVID positive cases where it’s shown up on day 10 and 12, even though they’ve tested negative earlier on.”

The pair just happened to be on the final flight to Melbourne from Brisbane before a three-day lockdown comes into effect in the Greater Brisbane area for three days at 6pm Queensland time.

They said they were shocked not to be met by any authorities in Melbourne this evening, as they had been in Brisbane when they arrived.

"Flying into Brisbane there were cops there who checked our licences and everything to make sure we hadn't been into Sydney or whatever, but nothing here coming back," Mr Daffy said.

"I got a message from Qantas saying 'Stay up to date', but there's been no information anywhere as to what the up-to-date information actually is," said Ms Bryant.

Another passenger, ABC journalist Lisa Millar, was also on the flight.

She brought forward her return trip to Melbourne this morning when the Queensland situation escalated.

She said she "found it incredible" to have landed in Melbourne without being met by authorities.

"The pilot said, 'when we land we might get some further guidance once we open the doors', so I was expecting then to be told something else but there was nothing," she said.

"We weren't told anything on board about what we should do, the only reason I know what to do is because I was connected to the Wi-Fi and I was reading about it on the way."

“There’s no closure on other parts of Queensland, I think my advice would be to start making plans to come home unless you plan to be up there for a significant period of time,” Mr Weimar told 3AW Radio Melbourne.

“We just don’t know. And as we’ve seen with New South Wales, we don’t know how this cluster is going to pan out over the coming days and weeks, so if you have a pressing need to be thinking of coming back to Victoria in the coming weeks, my personal advice would be I’d start thinking about making a plan to come home.

“I would not be planning a trip to Queensland at this time.”

Mr Weimar said Victorian health authorities were following the developments in Queensland “hour by hour” before making any further advice, but he did not rule out restrictions being tightened if contact tracers discovered the virus had seeped out of Brisbane.

“One of the positives is that Queensland has jumped on this very quickly, they came out very early this morning to say these are the swift and strong measures we’ve taken and that gives us confidence,” Mr Weimar said.

“We haven’t seen [this variant] out in the community before so this is the first time in Australia where this far more infectious UK strain is out and about, and we need to see what impact will have on the possible contacts this lady may have.”

“Where we see a Brisbane address or … an address from the greater Brisbane area, we’ll intercept the vehicle and speak to the passengers and driver,” Mr Wheeler said.

“Now is not the time to come from the greater Brisbane area.”

He added police would use communication and compassion but also their discretion to issue fines for those blatantly doing the wrong thing.

“At the end of the day, if we can’t get compliance from any other means it may be a necessary evil I suppose to issue infringement notices,” Mr Wheeler said.

Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Craig Hawkins said there would also be a strong police presence on that region’s main roads and the Bruce Highway, with no road blocks but a system to intercept vehicles to ensure people were not leaving Brisbane.