Rugby League Updates Live – Queensland vs New South Wales, State of Origin III in Brisbane

All the action in the Home State decider between Queensland and New South Wales in Brisbane.

The Queensland Covid-19 restrictions were lifted Tuesday afternoon, just in time for the home state’s decisive match to be played in front of the largest crowd anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic.

64 days have passed since the last case of community transmission in the Sunshine State. The virus-free race prompted the health director to advise the Premier to remove restrictions, including increasing the stadium’s capacity to 100%.

So more than 52,000 people can technically sit side by side in the game, but they are advised to wear face masks and practice social distancing whenever possible.

It comes as Queensland authorities are rushing to locate more than 7,000 people who have entered the state from South Australia since last Monday, as quarantine restrictions are imposed following a worrying outbreak in Adelaide.

Those people were asked by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday to isolate where they are and get tested, as Queenslanders returning home from South Australia from midnight Monday must enter two weeks of mandatory quarantine in hotel.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said no one who had been in Adelaide would be able to attend the match, and contact tracing would ensure, in the event of a positive match from the match, that all exposed people could be quarantined.

Ms D’Ath said Ticketek had contacted all Adelaide ticket holders, and as of Tuesday morning, authorities knew of five people who had been in Adelaide since last Monday who had purchased tickets. .

The SA group rose to 20 cases Tuesday morning, and it is believed to have originated from a medi-hotel in the capital city.

Palaszczuk said the outbreak represented a concern for Queensland after a large number of flights arrived in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Cairns from Adelaide in the last week.

“The last thing we want to see is Queenslanders having to go through some kind of lockdown,” he said Monday.

“But this cluster outbreak is cause for concern.”

Dr. Jeannette Young said the priority was to find the people who had come from Adelaide and get tested.

“We know all the people who have come to our state from Adelaide, so we are going to be able to contact them all and make sure they get tested,” Dr. Young said.

Origin’s decisive game on Wednesday comes two weeks after the first game of the series was played in Adelaide; however, Dr. Young said the period of concern dates back to last Monday.

The game at Suncorp will be the largest sports game anywhere in the world since the first wave of Covid-19 suspended crowded matches in March.

The total capacity of Suncorp Stadium is 52,500 and as of Monday, there were only 4,000 tickets left. Two thousand tickets were reserved as gifts for frontline health care workers and emergency services personnel.

Ms D’Ath said stadiums were able to fill 100 percent of their seats due to assigned seats and ticket sellers kept all contact information.

“We know where each person is sitting … If there is a case, we know who to contact directly,” he said.

As a buy-in, Suncorp Stadium has introduced measures to keep the match COVID-proof, including advising ticket holders to bring their own masks and wear them to and from the game, especially when entering, exiting and moving around. the stadium and in public. transport.

Zoning is designed to limit movement within the stadium and reduce congestion. Users are also asked to arrive during the time period on their ticket and only leave when their zone is called.

The stadium asks people who are feeling unwell or showing symptoms of Covid-19 to stay home. Additionally, anyone who has been in a Covid-19 hot spot in the last 14 days, which now includes Adelaide, or who has been in contact with someone who has been in a hot spot, should stay home.

Last month, the second game of the Bledisloe Cup in Auckland recorded the world’s largest audience in a sports match since Covid-19, and received 46,049 spectators.

The NRL Grand Final in Sydney in October drew 36,000 spectators.

Meanwhile, in the United States, 31,700 fans packed a Texas stadium on November 8 to watch an NFL game.