Authorities race to contain outbreaks as Queensland cases spike
Queensland is battling a Covid outbreak on four fronts after valuable time was lost tracing a Sydney truck driver who is also the subject of a police investigation. It comes as a woman tested positive after visiting a northern NSW hotspot, adding to Wednesday’s existing cases.
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Queensland is battling a Covid outbreak on four fronts after valuable time was lost tracing a Sydney truck driver who is also the subject of a police investigation. It comes as a woman tested positive after visiting a northern NSW hotspot, adding to Wednesday’s existing cases.
Authorities are racing to stop the virus spreading from a truckie who failed to check in to eateries and hotels in the inner city for over a week, while a Brisbane woman is understood to have tested positive to Covid-19 late on Wednesday night after visiting a northern NSW hotspot.
The infectious Sydney truck driver who has put Queensland on a knife’s edge failed to check in to eateries and hotels for almost two weeks, forcing authorities to use the truckie’s e-scooter rental to trace his movements.
Health authorities say they relied on the man’s credit card data in documenting his movements across Brisbane – delaying valuable contact-tracing time.
Queensland Police are also investigating how the Sydney-based truckie remained in the state after entering on September 16.
Investigations will centre on the type of pass used to cross the border and associated requirements.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said it was “not unusual” for police to investigate how a person entered the state.
Under Queensland Health guidelines, interstate freight workers are expected to leave Queensland as soon as possible after entering, but they are not monitored for compliance after entering.
The Camp Hill woman is believed to have visited Kyogle and came into contact with someone who later tested positive.
Late Wednesday, a swathe of new exposure sites were revealed, including at shopping centres in Carindale, Cannon Hill and Brisbane CBD this week.
Queensland Health on Wednesday night refused to confirm the new case, saying it was policy to reveal any new infections at the daily morning press conference.
A Melbourne to Brisbane flight on Monday was also added to the list night, indicating there could be yet another new case.
A fresh batch of Gold Coast exposure sites were also listed.
The mystery cases come as it can be revealed the infectious Sydney truck driver who put Queensland on a knife’s edge failed to check in to eateries and hotels for almost two weeks, forcing authorities to use the truckie’s e-scooter rental to trace his movements.
Health authorities relied on the man’s credit card data in documenting his movements across Brisbane – delaying valuable contact-tracing time.
About 4 million residents remain on edge over the latest cluster, which continues to cause concern for chief health officer Jeannette Young.
Dr Young has refrained from plunging the region into its sixth snap lockdown, despite 18 active cases and the number of exposure sites exploding within days.
In a shift of how Queensland will manage outbreaks, Dr Young said the state’s increasing vaccination rate was among the “most important” triggers to avoiding future snap lockdowns.
“Once the community is all vaccinated, we will get virus circulating and people will get sick, but the chances of them needing intensive care and dying from the disease is enormously lower,” she said.
A truck driver in his 50s, who lives at Gaven and “regularly moves between the Gold Coast and Sydney”, was the second freight worker to test positive this week.
He was infectious in the Gold Coast community from September 25 to 27 and visited a large number of suburbs from Currumbin to Surfers Paradise.
Queensland freight workers who have been in a Covid-19 hotspot are expected to continue testing after returning home, but are not required to isolate while awaiting a test result. While the man is a Queensland resident, he will be counted in NSW numbers after testing positive there.
Queensland recorded one community case on Wednesday – a fully vaccinated Biggera Waters man who is a close contact of the aviation training worker who tested positive on Monday night.
The requirement for masks to be worn indoors will be extended to the Gold Coast along with restrictions on visitors to aged-care, disability, health and corrective services facilities.
“Absolutely anyone with the most slightest of symptoms please come and get tested,” Dr Young said.
“We now have two people who live on the Gold Coast, have been out on the Gold Coast while infectious.”
Gold Coast residents reacted to the heightened threat of another outbreak with trademark laid-back indifference.
Hours after the new mask mandate was introduced, large crowds gathered on the Labrador foreshore of the Gold Coast Broadwater, with few people wearing masks or adhering to social distancing.
Gloomy skies kept numbers down at the beaches, but crowds in the bustling heart of Burleigh were largely unfazed by the new directives as large numbers mingled on footpaths and in shops without wearing masks. Shoppers at retail hubs were split about 50-50 on wearing masks, though a higher proportion were seen following the directives indoors.
Queenslanders have also been slow off the mark with testing during this outbreak compared to other, with a pop-up Covid-19 testing clinic at the South Pine Sports Complex in Brendale – close to Eatons Hill – virtually deserted on Wednesday.
Dr Young expected Covid-19 to be widely circulating in the Queensland community “earlier than the end of the year”.
“We’re getting cases every single day coming into Queensland and they’ll continue to come when we’ve got large numbers of cases on the other side of our border,” she said.
Dr Young said she was not “comfortable” with the situation, but declined to enforce a lockdown.
Instead, she said Queenslanders’ response to the pandemic – particularly recent outbreaks – proves residents know what to do.
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