An increasing number of residents in Victoria are looking to permanently leave the state after the imposition of new COVID-19 restrictions – and many have Queensland in their sights.

Adam Coward, chief revenue officer at removalist booking firm Muval, told 9 News that his company’s website has seen a dramatic spike in visitors over the last three months – and a whopping 65% of online inquiries over the last two weeks have come from Victoria’s capital of Melbourne.

As for where most of them are going, Coward told 9 News that “Queensland is the biggest one,” with 21% of movers looking to move to Brisbane. Meanwhile 17% want to move to Perth and 15% want to relocate to Sydney.

“A lot of the calls that we take are from people who have either lost their job or have had a business close down and are looking to relocate that,” Coward told 7 News.

Under Victoria’s Stage 4 lockdown, removalist firms are considered an essential business and can operate within curfew hours. However, residents who decide to take the plunge and move out of state must also be able to an provide official lease or residency documents, as well as hold a valid border pass.

Additionally, anyone who has visited a coronavirus hotspot must adhere to a two-week hotel quarantine.

Coward told 9 News that the most common way for residents to move is by rail.

“So you’ll see people loading the actual goods you have in your house, down in Melbourne for example, and it gets transported up here [in Queensland] without being touched by anyone else.”