No new local cases as Qld to hit 80 per cent first dose mark on Tuesday

Queensland Health has added several Cairns locations to its exposure sites list, despite Queensland recording no new Covid cases overnight.

Queensland Health has added several Cairns locations to its exposure sites list, despite no new Covid cases recorded in Queensland overnight.

Cairns Airport, a Woolworths at Mission Beach and Cairns Central Shopping Centre were all added to the exposure sites list on Sunday afternoon.

A flight from Adelaide to Cairns on Monday, October 25, has also been included in the list.

The sites are all linked to a woman who flew from Cairns to the Northern Territory last week and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 there.

The Premier revealed on Sunday morning there had been no new local cases in Queensland overnight but three Covid cases had been reported in hotel quarantine.

The news comes at Queensland is set to hit the 80 per cent first-dose mark on Tuesday.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and acting chief health officer Dr Peter Aitken provided a Covid updated from Bunnings Stafford this morning, which was one of the Bunnings stores providing vaccinations this weekend.

There were 5826 tests conducted in the last 24 hours and 14,446 vaccines administered.

“More than 50 per cent were first doses and what we are seeing in North Brisbane is that they are young people,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

The state is expected to hit 80 per cent first dose on Tuesday.

The Premier said she was confident the state would get to 80 per cent vaccinated, despite sluggish rates.

“I am quite sure we are going to see those last remaining queenslanders come out,” she said.

The premier also said she has seen some misinformation about vaccinations on social media and urged Queenslanders to ignore it.

“Ignore it, this is safe, it’s a safe vaccine, it’s been tested and millions of people have had it.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jono Searle

She rejected suggestions the State had now decided the Doherty modelling was not good enough, after Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said yesterday it would not sway the government to move away from its pledge to only open up to international travel when at 90 per cent vaccinated.

“We had a really good national cabinet meeting on Friday, it was about three hours so there were a lot of things that were discussed and everybody is working collaboratively together,” she said.

“My job is to keep Queenslanders safe... that is why we are spearheading this vaccine program to get people vaccinated as soon as possible.”

One new local case was recorded yesterday - a woman from Goondiwindi. That case was linked to an existing cluster.

Dr Aitken confirmed the woman had not been in the community while infectious.

Dr Aitken said Goondoowindi was “a wonderful test case” with high vaccination rates.

“The higher the vaccination rates, the less likely we will have these events (outbreaks),” he said.

Dr Aitken said he is cautious but optimistic that the Goondiwindi cluster is under control.

“It is a team effort… it’s the people of Queensland have helped stamp out this outbreaks when they have occurred,” he said.

“We need to get vaccinated.”

Acting chief health officer Dr Peter Aitken. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Meanwhile, interstate travellers are poised to pour into Queensland when the state’s border wall comes down next month.

Data from leading travel companies Wotif.com and Flight Centre shows a surge in bookings for Queensland holidays post-December 17, with the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane the top destinations.

Wotif recorded a 45 per cent increase in demand for holiday bookings across Queensland once border restrictions ease with the Whitsundays experiencing a huge jump of more than 80 per cent.

However, Queenslanders themselves appear cautious of heading interstate with data suggesting they are more likely to holiday within the state in the early stages of the reopening.

That should create an ideal scenario for the state’s tourism operators, easing fears Queenslanders would be ready to rush out the door en masse as soon as travel restrictions ease.