Covid Qld: Health Minister Yvette D’Ath delivers latest case details

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has revealed a new $10 meal voucher rollout across Queensland as an incentive to get more people vaccinated, as the state recorded no new cases again. DETAILS HERE

Queensland has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 as the state government unveiled a new incentive with Clubs Queensland, offering $10 meal vouchers for people who have received their first dose.

There were 3545 tests in the last 24 hours and 10533 vaccinations.

A total of 78.21 per cent of Queenslanders have had their first dose, while 64.71 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a Covid-19 health alert has been issued for a service station in Goondiwindi after a truck driver tested positive interstate.

Queensland Health, in a statement, said the truck driver was infectious in the community for a day on October 31 and has since left the state.

The only exposure venue listed so far is the Goondiwindi BP truck stop, between 10.30am and 11am on October 31.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said regions with low vaccination rates would not face restrictions unless there was an outbreak, but highlighted the risk those who choose not to get the jab face.

“We will have outbreaks across Queensland (once borders open),” she said.

Restrictions will only be put in place where there’s outbreaks occurring, not for preventive measures, she said.

Acting chief health officer Dr Paul Aitken said health authorities were still working through what additional freedoms vaccinated Queenslanders would get that the unvaccinated would not.

He said they were working with several industries on the best way to implement those freedoms.

Ms D’Ath announced a partnership with Clubs Queensland, where families who have had their first dose can be in the running for one of 7250 $10 meal vouchers per person.

She said the vouchers would be available at 29 clubs across the state, including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Toowoomba and Rockhampton, as well as Brisbane.

Dr Aitken thanked Clubs Queensland for helping encourage more families to go out and get their jab.

“It’s a really important initiative to bring vaccinations into the community and make it accessible for the whole community,” he said.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

The vouchers will be available from Thursday and they will be eligible through until Christmas. The participating clubs and vaccination hubs will be posted online today.

Ms D’Ath said she was concerned people were sitting back waiting, thinking it’s not a problem for them because Covid has not been in their communities.

“(But) getting vaccinated is the only way to protect yourself once the virus comes,” she said.

“We have seen what happens (when you don’t get vaccinated).”

Responding to the news 4000 unvaccinated health workers have been suspended, Ms D’Ath said losing unvaccinated healthcare workers would put pressure on the system in the short term but she was “confident” that there would be an improvement.

“The number of staff we would lose if we had a major outbreak and they were unvaccinated would be far greater,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said Queensland Health was looking into getting contract staff and casual staff in to ease the pressure on hospital workforces.

Ms D’Ath said in terms of only allowing people to return on planes, it was not safe for Queensland to have people driving their cars across the state.

“It is not safe until we get to that 80 per cent dose,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said exemptions were still being considered by the exemptions team, which The Courier-Mail reported has been slashed in numbers, but the fastest way families could be reunited was for people to get vaccinated so the state could get to the 80 per cent vaccination target.

“Queenslanders, you can fix this by coming out and getting vaccinated,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said she expected “thousands and thousands” of cars to be crossing at border checkpoints once the borders opened at 80 per cent.

She said the state government was working with police to come up with the best way to monitor the borders and minimise delays.

Ms D’Ath said she wasn’t sure yet if every car would be stopped, or if they only did random checks.

Responding to questions about international arrivals not being allowed in Queensland exemption-free until the 90 per cent vaccination target, Ms D’Ath said “we have acted on the health advice the whole way through”.

“We have set a target of 90 per cent because we believe until that time the risk is too great we want to make sure we have as many people vaccinated as is possible

“What other states choose to do, that is their prerogative.

“There is one thing Queenslanders can do, to ensure we open our borders sooner, is get vaccinated.

“We need to get the vaccination rates higher.

“That’s the difference (between Queensland and NSW and Victoria) – their vaccination rates are higher.”

Ms D’Ath said not allowing international arrivals until the 90 per cent target was also about managing the risk.

She said it was a “safety blanket for Queensland”.

“The border pass system is currently being updated to include vaccination status and proof of a negative test,” she said.

He said the government was talking with police about how to operationalise it to ensure cars would flow quicker across the border.

“Whether it’s checking every single vehicle or random stops and checks … we’re working through the operational side of that now.”

Dr Aitken said the quarantine rules were “all about safety”.

“Even being double vaccinated and having a Covid test, the vaccination reduces the likelihood that you will get really sick and reduces the risk that you will spread the disease,” he said.

An independent review into the Caboolture Hospital will also be handed down today, Ms D’Ath said.

She said it would include 19 recommendations, with no findings in relation to any individual doctor or no finding that any doctor was working outside their scope of practice

Ms D’Ath said the review focused on culture, governance, reporting and how Caboolture Hospital can improve how they can respond to complaints from patients.

She said she hoped there would be learnings coming from the Caboolture Hospital review, but was pleased there were no inappropriate actions found to be done by doctors.

Ms D’Ath said it was obvious patient complaints weren’t followed up appropriately.

She said she hoped all health districts looked at the report and considered ways they could improve their responses to patient complaints.