Question mark hangs over future of unvaxxed Qld teachers

The Deputy Premier has confirmed Queensland Health is weighing up “the risks” of having unvaccinated teachers in classrooms ahead of the new school year.

The Deputy Premier Steven Miles says Queensland teachers are expected to be vaccinated at a “higher than average” rate well in advance of an expected spike in Covid cases when school goes back in 2022.

As Queensland recorded no new local Covid cases overnight, Mr Miles said he expected that teachers would be “at least” at the 80 per cent level fully-vaccinated level already, “if not greater”.

“There will be plenty of time between the end of term this year and return of school next year to look at what the vaccination rates among teachers are, what the risk is, and make determinations then,” he said.

He said that Queensland Health expected teachers to have a vaccination rates higher than average.

“We can, and would expect, teachers as members of our community, will have a rate similar to, if not higher than, the average vaccination rate,” he said.

“So most teachers will already be vaccinated and there will be plenty of time to look at the risks of those who aren’t.”

Mr Miles said he was not currently worried about Covid outbreaks in schools as the December 17 80 per cent double vaccinated mark approaches and he said the Christmas school holidays would provided “plenty “ of time for Queensland Health to assess local schools and be ready for the 2022 school year.

“It is likely that it will only be a few days before the end of term that we start to see those Covid cases, and we expect to see seeding, rather than widespread (cases) because that will take time,” he said.

“That (widespread cases) will likely occur in the period of time when school holidays are on, and we will assess what the risks are and consider what is appropriate for the return of school.”

Queensland recorded one new case of Covid-19 in hotel quarantine overnight, a returned traveller who is fully vaccinated. That case was acquired overseas.

A new public health alert has also been issued as Queensland Health confirmd that a low-risk exposure site at the Brisbane Airport was linked to a Tasmania case who flew to Hobart from Brisbane.

Queensland Health has asked anyone at the Brisbane Domestic Airport from 7:30am - 8:40am on Sunday 14 November to get tested at their earliest convenience.

Mr Miles said that five patients with Covid had been discharged from Queensland hospitals in the last 24 hours, meaning the state’s total active caseload now stands at seven.

Of eligible Queenslanders, 83.62% have now received their first vaccination and 72.09% have received their second dose.

Queensland’s acting chief health officer Peter Aitken said the government projected that the state would hit 90 per cent sometime in January but he could not provide a specific date.

When asked about the cost of PCR testing for interstate travellers, Mr Miles said that the “necessary arrangements” are in place to keep Queenslanders safe.

“Right now, those people have to fly here, which is also really expensive,” he said.

“We urge the Commonwealth to consider whether Medicare rebates should be provided for tests that may not be medically necessary but are part of our health response.”

Meanwhile, genomic sequencing has traced the current Covid-19 outbreak in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory to a 21-year-old Queensland woman who lied about her travels.

NT Health confirmed the genomic sequence of the virus late yesterday.

The finding means there was Covid-19 spreading in the local community there between November 4 and November 13.

The virus was brought into the Territory by the 21-year-old woman from Cairns, who flew into Darwin on October 29.

Cases have now been recorded in Darwin, as well as in Indigenous communities in Katherine and Robinson River.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Miles said that vaccine rulings and what venues non-vaccinated people were to be excluded from were under active consideration.

“Our focus now is the non-essential venue mandate and seeing how effective that is for driving vaccination rates up,” he said.

He said that people should expect additional rules for non-vaccinated people to continue well beyond December 17.

Mr Miles also took aim at comments made by Federal Minister Peter Dutton on Friday morning, urging states to relax restrictions for unvaccinated people.

“I am not surprised Peter Dutton is doing his best to not be seen to be undermining the Prime Minister because behind the scenes he is doing his best to undermine the Prime Minister,” he said.

Mr Miles said he wanted to be careful to not “give to much oxygen” to the “very dangerous views” expressed by Mr Morrison.

“First of all, he made that statement yesterday where he criticised Queensland, and in particular Brisbane, in Sydney, where you have to be vaccinated to get a cup of coffee,” Mr Miles said.

“So it is surprising, well I guess it is not surprising, that again he singles out Queensland, while ignoring the fact that similar restrictions operate in his home city.”

Mr Miles said that Mr Morrison has “always hated” Queensland’s efforts to save lives.

“Since June, more than 1000 people have died linked to that Sydney outbreak,” he said.

“In that same time, no people have died in Brisbane. Zero.”