Covid Qld: Why state has evaded another outbreak despite growing exposure sites
The same qualities that have helped the Sunshine State evade a full-blown Delta outbreak may yet work against it, experts warn.
QLD Coronavirus News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Coronavirus News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Mild winters and an outdoor culture have helped South East Queensland avoid Covid-19 outbreaks such those tearing through NSW and Victoria.
Queensland yesterday recorded two more cases linked to a Covid-19 outbreak at Sunnybank in Brisbane’s south, but authorities have remained calm about the potential of a wider outbreak.
University of Sydney professor Robert Booy said mild weather meant Queenslanders were spending more time outside rather than at household gatherings, which have resulted in significant outbreaks in southern states.
“The virus doesn’t like the warmth so much,” he said.
The two new Queensland community cases were both students from St Thomas More College at Sunnybank.
Professor Booy said the state’s recent cases likely weren’t highly infectious, which had also reduced transmission.
“A high school student has a pretty low risk of transmitting to another high school student, probably less than a 2 per cent risk,” he said.
“You wouldn’t expect, based on how Delta transmits in schools, a single person to create many cases.
“Queensland is in a relatively safe place and Queensland has done a good job of controlling Covid-19.”
University of Queensland virologist Associate Professor Ian Mackay said Queensland’s hotter climate might not continue to work in its favour as it moved into spring and summer, when people sought reprieve in airconditioning,
“We keep seeing shopping centres as a focus of recent outbreaks because kids go there after school where it’s a bit cooler,” he said.
“They hang out and take their masks off, eat and drink and everything else.
“Thankfully, again with luck, that still hasn’t led to recent transmission in those particular settings, even though they’re indoors, even though probably having a good chat.”
Health authorities will continue to trust that essential workers entering the state are doing the right thing, despite nine freight drivers carrying Covid-19 across the border from NSW.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it would be a logistical nightmare to test every driver who entered Queensland, even with rapid testing kits, despite an increasing number of cases being transmitted across state lines by freight workers.
Ms Palaszczuk said Australia’s transport ministers were discussing how to minimise the spread of Covid-19 by truck drivers, who were already tested every three days.
“The problem with testing every truck driver that comes into the state is we have thousands,” she said.
“You can imagine then the traffic jams that we would have. Let’s keep all options on the table.”
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said nine freight drivers had crossed the border and spent time in the community while infectious since border checkpoints were introduced.
However she said there would be no change to how essential workers were monitored for compliance with their border exemption pass.
“We trust them that they come in, that they do whatever they need to do as part of their work and then they return home,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said the students who tested positive on Monday – a 15-year-old boy and girl from different households – had been in home quarantine and were considered low risk.
Dr Young said she was now “confident enough” to lift visitor restrictions imposed on aged care, disability services and prisons across Logan and Brisbane’s south.
St Thomas More College closed on Friday, with almost 1000 people forced into home quarantine after a 13-year-old student was infected with Delta by an essential worker from NSW.
Professor Ian Mackay commended the teen for getting tested so promptly after complaining of a headache.
“Queenslanders just keep delivering and that’s why we have these cases found quickly,” he said.
“And once they’re found, they’re put into quarantine and their contacts are put into quarantine, which prevents further spread.
“It’s a mixture of luck and a really expert, large amount of hard work.”
Police are investigating the worker who transmitted Covid-19 to the girl as well as two others from the group that crossed from NSW into Queensland together on Sunday last week.
Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police were conducting inquiries into the three essential workers who entered Queensland and sparked the South East’s latest Delta scare.
Queensland Health has since confirmed the three men crossed the border together on Sunday, September 5.
Two of the men were fully vaccinated, and the third had received one dose.
There were 128 people vaccinated at the NRL finals clash at Rockhampton on Sunday, prompting Queensland Health to extend the program to Saturday’s match in Mackay.
Another community vaccination hub will open at Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre in Toowoomba, where it will operate seven days a week.
More Coverage
‘The biggest public health threat of our times’
Experts say instances of self harm linked to social media use are at virus epidemic levels, labelling it “the biggest public health threat of our times”.
Vaccination rates a sad casualty of Covid
The chaotic years of Covid are receding rapidly, but the latest legacy is the rise of ‘vaccine fatigue’ and it’s putting our children at risk, writes the Editor.