Two new Qld cases as Greater Brisbane ‘no longer a hotspot’

Queensland has recorded two new cases of COVID-19 - both in hotel quarantine - as the Federal Government confirms Greater Brisbane is no longer a virus hotspot.

Greater Brisbane’s status as a COVID-19 Commonwealth hotspot has been revoked.

States and territories slammed their borders shut to the southeast region earlier this month following the concerning UK strain cluster at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane.

Queensland recorded two new cases of coronavirus on Sunday. Both were picked up in returned travellers in hotel quarantine and there were no recorded local transmission cases.

Similarly, no new cases of community transmission was recorded on Saturday, with Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young saying that due to “very quick work by a lot of people and the people of greater Brisbane that there is every chance we have contained this cluster … it is looking promising.”

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Sunday morning confirmed that Australia had no remaining coronavirus hot spots but warned the country is “not out of the woods” yet.

Mr Hunt said the Federal Government had removed all hot spots in Australia following only one confirmed case through community transmission in the past couple of days.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“There are no remaining hotspot definitions,” Mr Hunt said.

“Of course, inevitably, there will be days of new cases. There will be days where there may be a requirement for Commonwealth hotspot definition to be reintroduced. But they‘ll be done on the basis of that, and cases.

“We‘re not out of the woods because the world isn’t out of the woods. And our challenges remain always, while there is a disease that is abroad in the rest of the world, but Australians are doing incredibly well.”

Mr Hunt said Queensland’s response to the mutant UK strain of COVID-19 appearing in a hotel quarantine worker in Brisbane showed state governments and health departments are able to quash potential outbreaks.

The federal health minister also said he had asked the Therapeutic Goods Administration to seek further information on the Pfizer vaccine, following a Norwegian report about the risks of its administration.

Media reports out of Norway have flagged six more elderly patients who were given the vaccine died after being inoculated, bringing the total to 29.

The Australian Government Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly providing an update on COVID-19. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Earlier, The Sunday Mail reported the nation’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly was expected to announce on Sunday there was now a low risk of transmission of the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in Greater Brisbane.

This is in light of the first transmission event believed to have taken place on January 2 on the seventh floor of the Hotel Grand Chancellor.

When contacted by The Sunday-Mail yesterday, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt commended Queensland’s testing and contact tracing system for its progress.

“Queensland faced a potentially highly dangerous outbreak,” he said.

“But everyone involved, the Queensland Government, contact tracers, the medical community and the public deserve deep congratulations on the progress to date.

“We still need to maintain our vigilance and we will face the risk of potential outbreaks at different times and in different places around Australia, but rapid collective and co-ordinated action has shown that the systems are strong and providing protection across Australia.”

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

On Saturday, Victoria loosened its border restrictions on people travelling from Greater Brisbane, with Premier Daniel Andrews saying the region would be downgraded from a red to an orange zone.

Mr Andrews said people wanting to return home and visitors would have to apply for a permit and then would be allowed to travel freely after taking a test within 72 hours of arriving, and receiving a negative result.

As of 12.01am on Sunday, travellers from Greater Brisbane are allowed to enter South Australia without needing to quarantine.

But people will need to be tested on days one, five and 12.

New South Wales’ border is open to every state and territory, while Western Australia still has a hard border closure to Queensland.

People who travel to Tasmania from Greater Brisbane after January 8 are required to quarantine.

The ACT no longer requires anyone travelling from Greater Brisbane to quarantine, and neither does the Northern Territory.

Asked yesterday whether she expected other states to reopen to Queensland, in light of no new community transmission, Dr Young said each state would make an independent assessment of what the risks were in their state and what was best for their population.