Zero new Queensland virus cases 'tremendous' but restrictions to stay

Queenslanders have had a much-needed win with zero new cases of coronavirus recorded in the state on Monday, but experts warn the result must be maintained before movement restrictions will be eased.

It’s the first time for over 40 days that Queensland has not recorded new cases, with the first week in March seeing the start of a steep jump, forcing the current lockdown measures.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Monday’s result was “absolutely tremendous”.

“If we can keep this up over the coming weeks, I’m sure that that’s going to mean that we’ll be able to make some changes and ease some of those restrictions on the population,” she said.

The state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young sounded a note of caution, saying there were no immediate plans to lift restrictions and any easing would have to be monitored closely to ensure cases did not start increasing again.

“We know that if we were to significantly release any of those restrictions that we would probably end up like some other countries have,” Dr Young said.

Professor Gerard Fitzgerald, a public health expert with QUT, said people should be “hopeful but cautious” about the reduction in new cases.

“We’ve still got people coming back in from overseas, and so there’s those, plus there’s been a few sneaky little outbreaks around,” Professor Fitzgerald said.

“But if there were widespread community transmission, older and more vulnerable people would be getting it and turning up at hospitals, and they’re not.”

“And while that’s the tip of the iceberg, if there’s no tip, there’s no berg, if you like.”

QUT Professor Raja Jurdak, who specialises in infectious disease modelling, also said the lack of new cases was a cause for hope, but measures should be maintained for the time being.

“I think it’s very encouraging, particularly as we know a very large number of tests are being done, so we know that more of the actual cases are being detected,” he said.

Across Australia, just 26 new coronavirus cases were recorded on Monday.

Queensland has seen 1019 people infected since the state recorded its first case over 80 days ago in late January.

More than 700 of those people have since recovered and of those still infected, 20 patients remain in hospital, with seven of those in intensive care on ventilators.

Despite calls to prolong current restrictions, some Gold Coast beaches were reopened on Monday.

The stretches of sand at Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta have reopened, but The Spit and all beach car parks on the Gold Coast remain closed.

The beaches are still only accessible to locals under the statewide movement restrictions, and anyone travelling long distances, for example from Brisbane, runs the risk of being fined.

Grounded Virgin Australia aircraft parked at Brisbane Airport.Credit: Darren England

Governments fight for state of Virgin

Queensland has vowed to "stop at nothing" to keep Virgin's headquarters in Brisbane and has warned the NSW government to "back right off".

The NSW government has put forward its own Virgin Australia rescue package - with the condition of relocating the airline's headquarters to Sydney.

Queensland State Development Minister Cameron Dick said he would fight any attempt by NSW to “steal Virgin Australia from Queensland to Sydney".

"New South Wales might want to bring a pea-shooter to the fight, we will bring a bazooka and we're not afraid to use it," he said.

“At a time when their jobs hang in the balance, the 1200 Queensland families who depend on those head office jobs should not have to face the threat of being forced to move to Sydney."

But NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet appeared publicly confused by the strong talk.

"We are not in a fight with Queensland, we are in a fight to keep people in jobs and business in business," Mr Perrottet said on Monday.

Learning from home system gets poor mark on first day

On the first day of the new school term, thousands of Queensland students were left twiddling their thumbs after the government's "learning from home" website crashed.

Michelle Merriman helps her daughter Audrey, 9, with schoolwork as she and her sister Grace, 8, learn from home on the first day of Term 2 in Brisbane.Credit: AAP Image/Dan Peled

Despite having weeks to prepare for the influx of students planning to access school online, both the Education Department and the Brisbane Catholic Education websites buckled, coming back online by 10am.

Education Minister Grace Grace’s office said it was being investigated.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the government had tried to cushion itself from criticism by saying multiple times at the weekend there would likely be “teething issues”.

"Saying it is a teething problem is a poor excuse – this is a failure to prepare," she said.

Ms Frecklington said schools should be open to any student who still wished to attend.

Schools remain open to vulnerable children and those of parents still required in their workplace.

- with Lydia Lynch, Toby Crockford and Jocelyn Garcia