‘It will get worse’ expert says as lockdown tipped to extend past this week

Queenslanders in the southeast corner will stay in lockdown until Sunday as a fast-moving Delta cluster continues to grow.

Queenslanders are now facing a longer lockdown in the southeast corner as the number of local cases connected to a Delta cluster grows.

Acting Premier Steven Miles announced 15 new cases on Monday morning, 13 of them as a result of community transfer and linked to a cluster in Brisbane’s wester suburbs.

The lockdown affecting 11 local government areas was meant to lift on Tuesday afternoon, but will now continue until at least Sunday.

People line up for a Covid-19 test at Annerley on Qld’s first full day of lockdown. Picture: NCA Newswire / Dan Peled

Construction of the Rookwood weir, southwest of ­Rockhampton, was halted on Sunday, after a woman who had been working on the site tested positive after flying in from Brisbane.

At least six schools are now affected, with the after-care and prep rooms at Pullenvale State School the latest to join the growing list that includes Brisbane Boys and Girls Grammar, Indooroopilly State High School, Ironside State School and St Peters ­Lutheran College.

Contact-tracing locations had expanded to multiple new suburbs, including Sunnybank, South Brisbane, Spring Hill, Wilston, Moggill and an array of public transport routes.

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young warned the state’s latest Covid-19 cluster was “rapidly escalating”, with much still unknown about how the virus jumped from two returned travellers and into the community.

The cluster now stands at 31 cases.

People queuing for testing on Sunday, August 1, 2021. Photo Steve Pohlner

Queensland infectious disease expert Associate Professor Paul Griffin warned “far wider transmission” of the virus should be expected.

“We’ve seen fairly ready transmission in a number of settings,” he said.

“There are many factors that determine if transmission occurs and how much … on the current trajectory and infections in the community (I think we can expect) an increase in cases at least for the next two to three days.”

For cases to be discovered, people would need to front up to get swabbed, with Deputy Premier Steven Miles on ­Sunday pleading with the community to come out in force to get tested for Covid-19 after a lacklustre turnout the day before.

A total of 11,468 Covid-19 tests were done on Saturday – thousands fewer than in previous lockdowns. “That is not enough tests,” Mr Miles said.

Dr Young said it was particularly crucial for people on the Sunshine Coast, where she suspects the state’s mystery Covid-19 cluster links could be found, to come forward and get tested.

“It’s vital anyone with any symptoms at all please come forward for testing … I don’t know where this virus is,” Dr Young said.

“We all need to work together for the next three days if we are to be able to lift this stay at home requirement.”

Queensland’s latest infections included a Brisbane woman, who travelled to Rockhampton to work on the Rookwood weir project.

She tested positive on July 31 and was deemed to be infectious since July 28, while she was on site.

People getting tested at Sullivan Nicolaides drive through Covid testing centre at Bowen Hills on Sunday, August 1, 2021. Photo Steve Pohlner

Construction at the weir has stopped and workers have been isolated to their rooms for 14 days after an external contractor tested positive to the Covid-19 virus.

The woman travelled from Brisbane to Rockhampton on Qantas flight 2362 at 8.30am on July 28 and returned at 6.40pm on July 30, flying QA2365.

How she is linked to the Indooroopilly cluster has not yet been made public.

The new infections included four people linked to a karate class at Ironside State School that is also attended by children from other schools, including a Brisbane Boys Grammar student who has since passed on Covid-19 to his father.

Two more cases were linked to Indooroopilly State High School and two more were found within Ironside State School.

For the first time, Dr Young has mandated mask-wearing for students in year 7 and higher, with all teachers except those educating deaf children also told to wear masks. Vaccinating children aged 12 to 15 is not yet a priority she said, because modelling suggested jabbing the cohort “doesn’t give you a lot more protection” from the spread of the virus.

Dr Young said eventually younger students down to age 12 would be vaccinated, but at this stage “it’s more important to vaccinate older people”.

Associate Professor Griffin said current data did not show the Delta variant of Covid-19 to be more transmissible among children than in adults.

But Covid safety measures, such as mask-wearing and ­social distancing, have been aimed predominantly at adults.

“We do need to revisit what we do to prevent transmission in children,” he said.

For now, South East Queenslanders have been reminded that the rules of this lockdown are harsher than the past three snap lockdowns.

There are only five reasons to leave home – to get essential goods or receive healthcare, to exercise, to go to work if you are deemed essential, to assist a vulnerable person or to get a Covid-19 test or jab.

Children of essential workers and vulnerable children can attend childcare and school, but all other children should remain at home.