Premier’s plea: Get a booster, wear your mask and think about your movements

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has urged Queenslanders to start wearing masks indoors again as the latest Covid wave continues to spike with more than 5000 cases and 22 deaths overnight.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is urging all Queenslander to wear masks indoors again amid the latest Covid wave.

The Sunshine State recorded another 5795 Covid cases on Saturday and 22 deaths, with 921 patients being treated in hospital – including 14 in intensive care.

There are now 46,199 active Covid cases in Queensland – about 300 more than the day before.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was urging all Queenslanders to wear masks indoors.

“Queenslanders will step up – I know they will,” she said.

“You are strongly encouraged to wear your masks indoors.

“I’ll be wearing my mask indoors and I’m encouraging people to do that as well.

“We are seeing the escalation of people going into our hospitals.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Ms Palaszczuk said health officials expected the Covid wave to continue through to the end of August.

Her calls for mask wearing followed today’s national cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Ms Palaszczuk welcomed the extension of the pandemic leave disaster payment scheme following today’s snap cabinet meeting, while also confirming the upcoming Ekka would go ahead as planned.

The pandemic leave scheme was meant to end on June 30, but in a surprise reversal decision, Mr Albanese extended the $750 payments until September 30.

Payment costs will be split equally between the federal and state governments, which Ms Palaszczuk said was estimated to cost Queensland $12m.

“The other thing we’ll be doing too is making sure we get extra RAT tests going out to schools, making them more available to people as well,” she said.

“I’m strongly encouraging when school goes back on Monday as well for children to be wearing masks in schools … as well as teachers – except where you can of course socially-distance,” she said.

“I think Australians are really good now at understanding when and where we need to wear masks. And can I say Queenslanders have always stepped up.”

The Premier said she could not see why the Ekka couldn’t go ahead if Queenslanders wore their masks indoors.

“We’ll sit down and talk,” she said. “Of course the chief health officer will talk to the Exhibition.

“I saw a lot of seniors wearing masks out and about, now I’m asking all Queenslanders.

“We have today over 980 people currently in our hospitals, so that’s nearly 1000 people in our hospitals.

“We need to slow this way down and the best way to slow this way down is wear a mask.”

Originally published as Premier’s plea: Get a booster, wear your mask and think about your movements