Covid latest: Premier delivers update on Queensland cases

Authorities have confirmed the latest Covid cases reported in Queensland are the Delta strain and are linked to the Sydney outbreak, as one new locally acquired case was recorded overnight and borders were shut to Victoria.

Queensland has recorded one new case of locally acquired Covid-19 overnight, as the Sydney Delta outbreak is confirmed to have spread to the Sunshine State.

The new case comes on top of thee positive results yesterday, with genomic sequencing confirming they are the highly-contagious Delta strain.

Ms Palaszczuk said today’s case is the mother of the 12-year-old boy who tested positive yesterday. His father also returned a positive test yesterday.

The Premier said the woman was in quarantine when she tested positive and posed no risk to the community.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

It came as Queensland declared Victoria a hotspot from 1am Saturday, as the caseload there grew by 6 overnight.

Ms Palaszczuk said that meant Queenslanders returning from Victoria after that time would have to quarantine for 14 days.

Authorities continue to monitor the situation in NSW ‘very, very closely’ but again stopped short of putting up a hard border.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the family of three from Redcliffe had done everything right.

“(The strain they have) has been very tightly confirmed with that outbreak in Sydney,” she said.

Dr Young said another case that tested positive yesterday, a Brisbane International Airport worker, had also been found to have the Delta variant of the virus with genome sequencing revealing she has “four snips different” from the virus carried by a previously confirmed case at the international airport.

She was a supervisor at a boarding gate with CCTV identifying 23 close contacts.

“I’m quite convinced that we have today in Queensland two new outbreaks,” she said.

“It is really, really important we maintain our restrictions for another seven days. Wearing masks makes a big difference, we know that.”

She pleaded with people at Queensland airports to be vigilant about wearing masks “because we know it’s high risk”.

Dr Young urged Queenslanders to take the threat seriously, saying “I will know in the next seven days if we face a significant risk”.

The new cases resulted in a mask mandate for some parts of Queensland being extended for another week.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath appealed to anyone coming into Queensland from interstate to constantly check the exposure sites list, which can be found on the Queensland Health website, and ensure they take appropriate measures if they had been at one.

Ms Palaszczuk said it was “absolutely imperative” that Queenslanders with any symptoms whatsoever to get a Covid test.

“This is about keeping the entire state safe so please go and get tested,” she said.

With the Gold Coast Titans to take on the Parramatta Eels at CBUS Stadium on the Gold Coast tonight and the Wallabies taking on France at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, Dr Young reminded footy fans to mask up.

She said the most important risk for spreading Covid at sports stadiums was in people mingling while out of their seats.

“Put your masks on as soon as you leave your home, don’t take them off until you are seated in the stadium,” she said.

Dr Young also addressed claims the NRL had been told that families of players could not come to Queensland, saying she was yet to receive the NRL’s Covid-safe plan.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Steven Miles welcomed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement on Thursday that lockdown financial help would be streamlined and help offered to NSW extended to all states and territories should they face the same predicament.

national cabinet is due to meet this afternoon to discuss the proposal.

Late on Thursday night the Prime Minister and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the Commonwealth had struck a deal with locked-down Victoria to provide financial assistance, despite the state’s lockdown being just five days.

Originally federal help during lockdowns was meant to kick in if the stay-at-home orders lasted more than a week.

Ms Palaszczuk said national cabinet needed to carefully discuss what the threshold for help is or “otherwise your three day lockdown will turn into a five-day lockdown so businesses can get that compensation”.

Queensland’s three snap lockdowns this year did not surpass four days, and in the most recent instance the Commonwealth did not declare parts of the state a hot spot— a key criteria for help to be activated.

Also speaking at the press conference this morning, Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski confirmed two people at the Queensland border had made false declarations yesterday, including a 79-year-old man.

Today’s Covid update comes as Ms Palaszczuk is due to fly out to Tokyo on Sunday ahead of the Olympic Games, with the Premier insisting she would cancel the trip if Queensland was plunged into a Covid-19 emergency “like NSW”.

She said the rare international trip would be a modest endeavour where she would lead the final presentation for Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 games.

“I am essentially flying in, doing the requirements of quarantine in Tokyo, I am presenting in Tokyo with the Lord Mayor (Adrian Schrinner) and also the federal minister,” she told reporters on Thursday.

“Then we have meetings in that same hotel — I am not attending any events whatsoever.

“Can I just make it clear that if we were in a situation like NSW, I would not be going.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she would then return to Queensland after about a week away and complete hotel quarantine — a detail that has infuriated many given the Premier’s recent demands to reduce international business travel.

Earlier this month, she blasted the federal government for allowing Australians to travel overseas for work and creating unnecessary stress on hotel quarantine facilities.

An online petition to lobby the federal government to deny Ms Palaszczuk a travel exemption attracted tens of thousands of signatures, but Ms Palaszczuk has continually defended the decision as crucial given the spruiked $14bn hosting rights windfall.