Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has accused her NSW counterpart of political meddling over comments about the border closure.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian blasted Queensland for not taking enough returned overseas travellers while continuing to lock out most people from her state.
"Enough is enough. People are not able to get hospital treatment or access services on the other side of the border," she told reporters on Wednesday.
"Queensland expects us to process all their citizens ... but then just think of all these excuses as to why NSW residents can't move freely to their state.
"You can't have it both ways."
Ms Palaszczuk hit back, saying Queensland would not be lectured by NSW.
"We listen to the chief health officer," she said.
"It's disappointing to see the NSW premier try to be political at this time when she has enough of her own issues to deal with.
"People can try and play politics ... but it's no laughing matter. This is about people's lives, and about people's livelihoods."
The stoush between the two leaders comes as two returned overseas travellers were diagnosed with COVID-19 in hotel quarantine in Cairns.
One is a 45-year-old man who recently returned from The Philippines, and the other is a woman in her 40s who had been in Papua New Guinea.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles assured Queenslanders the state's hotel quarantine system remained "incredibly effective".
"We've not had a single case out of our hotel quarantine here in Queensland," he said.
Asked if the Queensland border with NSW will reopen at the end of the month, Dr Miles reiterated Ms Palaszczuk's comments a day earlier, saying the government was waiting on advice from Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young.
"Our intention is to provide as much notice as we possibly can," he said.
"We'll be discussing (the border with Dr Young) in the coming days and hope to make an announcement just as soon as the decision is made."
Queensland last recorded a coronavirus case on Friday, when two infected crew members from a cargo ship anchored off the Sunshine Coast were transferred to hospital.
The state has five active cases, while health workers completed 4529 tests in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning.
It has been 48 days since the last COVID-19 case was diagnosed in the community.
