Covid Qld: Latest case numbers as vaccination push gains momentum

Queenslanders still locked out of the state amid the ongoing border exemption issues have been told by the Health Minister that they knew the risks when they left, while she added there are people who have been trying to come back to Australia for 19 months.

Queensland has recorded one new case of Covid overnight, a young child in home quarantine with connections to the Sunnybank cluster.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the family would now be forced to do another 14 days in quarantine.

The person tested positive on day 14 of their isolation period, prompting Ms D’Ath to highlight just how important it is to see out the full isolation period before re-entering the community.

Ms D’Ath said it was another super vaccination weekend.

There are 62 per cent of people with their first dose and 43 per cent with their second dose.

Ms D’Ath said there was no other state in eastern Australia which could hold the NRL finals, River Fire and rugby union.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Lynne McKinlay said the child’s family, by staying in home quarantine, had kept Queenslanders safe.

There were 1600 doses of Moderna administered in the first four days of availability.

Ms D’Ath said people who were stuck interstate knew the risk before they travelled.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Liam Kidston

“We have been saying since June that people need to be aware of the rules,” she said.

“We have been saying since mid-June if you travel interstate there is a risk that there will be lockdowns, that there will be restrictions.

“I appreciate that people are eager to come back but many of these people have actually gone interstate knowing what the rules were.

“For those who have been granted the right to come back but then decided they don’t want to fly – they’re just going to have to be patient.

We understand the heartache, disruptions that Covid has caused across the country

“There are many families in Victoria who live suburbs away from each other who aren’t allowed to visit each other – there are people in New South Wales who are not allowed to go from one area to another to visit households

“It’s not just about Queensland and people not being able to come to Queensland to visit.

“This disruption is happening all over the country.

“Just like Australians who have been trying to come back to Australia for 19 months now and have had to wait until there is capacity, we are asking people who are stuck interstate to work with us while we try to build capacity.

“People who have travelled since June also know there is a risk of the rules changing because of the level of risk and restrictions in place.

“We’re very much in the hands of other jurisdictions as well – it’s not so much we’ve shut the border.

“We can’t have thousands of people all just coming home and going into home quarantine without looking at the risk factors because if we did it would be extremely irresponsible.”

She said vaccination supply issues were continuing and called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to provide certainty around vaccination rollouts.

The Health Minister said the Premier was not singling out any particular ethnicity when she questioned why people would want to travel to India.

“I’ve just singled out Singapore,” the Minister said after pointing out that, at 80 per cent vaccinated, the island nation has returned to at-home education for all school children, as it tries to get on top of the Delta variant.

Ms D’Ath said the federal government should detail what countries people could travel to.

It comes as new modelling shows states that are leaning towards 90 per cent vaccination thresholds as a condition of opening up may not reach those milestones until almost mid January.

Modelling by Dr Chris Billington from Melbourne University, based on current vaccine supply and seven-day averages of jabs, shows Queensland will not have fully vaccinated 90 per cent of people aged 16 and over until December 31.

But if Queensland insists on including everyone aged over 12 in its vaccination tallies – something that is increasingly being discussed – the state will not reach the 90 per cent milestone until January 11.