Annastacia Palaszczuk to announce Queensland COVID-19 numbers

Queenslanders will remain in the dark for 24 more hours about if the Greater Brisbane lockdown will be lifted despite promises there’d be an answer this afternoon. It follows three new cases of COVID-19 overnight, two of them linked to the PA Hospital nurse cluster.

There are two critical factors that will determine if Brisbane’s lockdown will be lifted as the state recorded three new cases of COVID-19 overnight, including two that were locally acquired and connected to the Princess Alexandra Hospital nurse cluster.

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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk described the number as encouraging, but left Queenslanders in the dark for another 24 hours about if the lockdown would be lifted, saying a decision on it would be announced at 9am on Thursday, pending overnight case numbers.

It was a blow to certainty around Easter travel and trading, given on Monday she advised a decision would be made Wednesday night only to instead extend that decision by 16 hours to Thursday morning.

SEE THE VIDEO BELOW OF WHAT THE PREMIER SAID ON MONDAY

She said the number of people tested and no unlinked community transfer would be the key to if Brisbane’s lockdown would be lifted.

“Fingers crossed we’ll be looking good for Easter,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“If we see good testing rates and no unlinked community transmission, it is all looking good.

“If it’s encouraging news tomorrow, we will be lifting the hotspot tomorrow.”

It comes after 33,408 people were tested for the virus within a 24 hour period across Tuesday and Wednesday.

“That is a massive, massive number - I think that’s probably our highest,” she said.

“And I do want to thank Queenslanders for coming out and doing that.”

“If we see the same number of test results tomorrow, this is very, very encouraging news.”

She said the fact that there was no instance of any unlinked community transmission would also play a large role in the decision.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk listens to Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young during a press conference in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Ms Palaszczuk said the travellers should wait until tomorrow to change their plans.

“I think they should wait until 9am tomorrow, we’re having three briefings a day, this is a very serious situation that we’re in,” she said.

“I’m sorry I can’t help people who have flights coming in on Thursday, you would have seen that we declared greater Brisbane a hotspot.

“The Commonwealth has declared greater Brisbane a hotspot and other states and territories have done the same.”

The third case announced this morning was picked up in hotel quarantine.

The number of people linked to the nurse cluster, which originated from a patient from India, now sits at 11. There are eight cases tied to the first Princess Alexandra Hospital cluster.

More than 1700 people have been ordered to stay home because they’re considered to be close contacts of the two clusters.

“The fact that we don’t have any unlinked community transmission is encouraging news,” the Premier said.

She confirmed that there were people being treated for COVID in hospital in Bundaberg and Toowoomba.

There are two COVID positive patients in the Gold Coast University Hospital.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the first case today was a nurse in the Princess Alexandra Hospital who contracted the virus from a patient on the ward.

The second case recorded today was a housemate of the second nurse.

The nurse had been vaccinated on March 19 with her first dose.

“She hadn’t had a chance yet to have full immunity,” Dr Young said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles attacked the Federal Government's vaccination rollout at a press conference this morning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

She said the situation for Queenslanders over Easter was “encouraging”.

“We need to get more results from today, so it is absolutely extremely important that anyone with any symptoms gets tested,” she said.

“If there’s any other chains of transmission, we pick them up immediately and then we’ll get the results tomorrow morning and we’ll be able to then make a decision.”

Ms Palaszczuk called on the Federal Government to release it’s COVID-19 vaccination figures, while Deputy Premier Steven Miles fired up over what he described as a “orchestrated” attack on the states and territories from the Federal Government.

Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the vaccination rollout was the Federal Government’s responsibility.

“The Prime Minister committed that three million Australians would be vaccinated by the end of March,” he said. “Well, today is March 31 and he has fallen 2.4 million short of that target.”

On Tuesday, Ms Palaszczuk said the possibility of the lockdown continuing past 5pm Thursday was a “day by day” proposition. She said then that a decision expected to be made on Wednesday night.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital was last night plunged into lockdown after a fresh case emerged Tuesday night, while the Mater Hospital at South Brisbane sent staff home after a recent visitor tested positive.

Queensland recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, eight as a result of community transmission as two distinct clusters emerged.

One is linked to an unvaccinated doctor who tested positive in early March while working in the PA Hospital COVID ward, while the other involves an unvaccinated nurse who attended a hen’s weekend at Byron Bay.

Authorities are racing to control the two growing clusters which have now reached as far as Gladstone and the Gold Coast.

Brisbane residents have been warned not to flout lockdown laws and flee to other regions as authorities warn they are prepared to issue fines.