Qld COVID cases: Travellers linked to ‘superspreader’ traced
All eight people linked to a hotel “superspreader” have been traced as limits on wedding attendances are lifted. But it comes as a rollout of the vaccine will be rushed ahead for anyone over the age of 18 in a region under threat from the surge in PNG cases.
All eight people linked to a coronavirus superspreader at a Brisbane hotel have been traced, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced.
The Premier added that limits at weddings had now been lifted, so long as they complied with the maximum density of one person per 2sq m.
It has been 58 days since there was community transmission in Queensland.
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed the AstraZenaca vaccine will be fast-tracked to the Torres Strait amid concerns about an outbreak of COVID-19 in Papua New Guinea.
Queensland recorded another case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine today which is connected to the Ok Tedi mine in PNG.
Every adult living on Boigu, Saibai and Badu islands in the Torres Strait will be offered the vaccine, along with healthcare and border workers.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said she was concerned about the border between PNG and the Torres Strait.
“Which is why we’re rolling out the vaccine as fast as we possibly can up there,” she said.
“I’m very grateful that the Commonwealth again has got us an excellent vaccine that we can use in the usual way that doesn’t have those storage requirements because it would be very hard to take the Pfizer vaccine up to the Torres.”
The vaccines will be flown to Brisbane before being sent to the three islands.
“They’re the three islands that are closest to PNG so of course we’ll do the healthcare workers and the border workers but at the same time we’ll be talking to those communities,” Dr Young said.
She said while the vaccine wasn’t mandatory, she was strongly encouraging adults in those communities to get it.
Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland was doing a great job with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have now administered 6534 (jabs),” she said.
Queensland recorded one new case of COVID-19 today, which was detected in hotel quarantine.
The case is connected to the Ok Tedi mine in PNG.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said the management of the Ok Tedi mine in PNG had been excellent.
One of the eight people who needed to be contact traced was still in the Mercure Hotel.
Another had flown to Victoria, while the remaining six were in Queensland.
There are now 21 active cases in Queensland, with more than 7500 tests conducted yesterday.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said authorities were hoping to get more details from the Commonwealth around the number of AstraZeneca vaccines that Queensland would receive.
She said the State Government had outlined how many they wanted from the recent shipment, and where they wanted them, with the rollout to begin over the next week or so.
Genome sequencing has not yet detected any more cases of the Russian strain and no one else has tested positive from the Qatar Airways flight.
Meanwhile Ms D’Ath said authorities were hoping to get six COVID-19 vaccines per vial but conceded this wasn’t always possible.
“We are working on a minimum of five,” she said.
“But depending on the type of syringe that we use, we have been able to use normal syringes and get six vaccines out of a vial.
“The particular syringes best to get that six – there is a global shortage of them.”
