A NSW resident in the border community of Mungindi was ordered to leave the local hospital after Queensland closed its border.
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The hard border closure has cut the community of Mungindi, west of Moree, in half.
Divided by the Barwon River, it is the only town in the Southern Hemisphere split by a state border, with residents on both sides.
With all of NSW in lockdown and the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tightening border control due to COVID-19 outbreaks in NSW, locals are struggling to access essential services.
On Saturday, August 21 the Premier announced that the hospital - based on the Queensland side of the town - would effectively close to the residents in NSW, where the majority of the community reside.
A NSW resident of Mungindi, Tracey Jeffreys, said she had been an inpatient for two days when she was notified to "leave immediately" because Queensland Health was shutting the hospital to the town's 600 NSW residents, who were not allowed to come across the river.
"They told us to drive 130km to Moree if we needed help," Ms Jeffreys said. "And if we needed immediate help for a life threatening condition we could ring the ambulance."
Ms Jeffreys suffers from eight medical conditions that require her to be hospitalised regularly. She said this could be a matter of life and death.
Aged care residents were also relocated to other facilities, a move Leslie Carley, described as appalling.
"For the first time ever, I woke up feeling ashamed to be Australian when I found out what they'd done to the older people here," she said. "I just can't believe the situation we are in here right now. It's like the Berlin Wall in Germany," Ms Carley said.
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QLD Health maintains consideration was given to ensure the protection of the community while providing public health services at the Mungindi MPS.
"It is essential that COVID-19 is kept out of south-west communities as significant community transmission continues across NSW," a QLD Health spokesman said.
The emergency department remains open to residents on both sides of the border, as well as the vaccination clinic for appointments already booked.
The spokesman said a locum medical officer had been recruited by South West HHS to provide medical assistance on the NSW side of the border to also support the COVID-19 testing and vaccination program.
Health, is just one of the issues causing chaos for the community.
On the other side of the river, Queenslanders are not able to access their mail with the run coming from NSW, and have to travel to towns such as St George - 190km away - to get their groceries.
Mungindi Progress Association president, Katherine McMillan called upon 'the powers that be' in parliament and health who have made the decisions to visit the region.
"Have they ever been to Mungindi to have a look at what they have done to this town?" she asked.
"We're only staying within our bubble. If we can access the store and the pharmacy and our essentials, we're happy, that's all we want," Ms McMillan said. "And the hospital, from the NSW side."
Ms McMillan said Mungindi was a resilient community, as a whole. "Not half a community there and half a community here. Mungindi should never be split in half. It's the same name on both sides. We're the same postcode.
"We're not like any other border community. We're one community. And that's what makes us unique; that's what makes us bloody special.
"Move that COVID border so we can still live and operate, and go on with our lives in a tiny Mungindi bubble. We need a date when this is going to stop. We have to get this situation sorted; we have to get this done," she said.
Member for Warrego, Ann Leahy, said she wanted to see a genuine border bubble operating and existing services restored so Mungindi could operate as a community again.
"We need a clear road map for border communities. I have over 1000 kilometres of borders between the Queensland/NSW border and South Australian, genuine border bubbles and road maps are missing from Currumbin to Poppels Corner at the present time.
"Other restrictions/lockdowns have a road map - where is the State Government's road map for border communities?" she asked.