‘Every one of us will get infected’: CHO’s warning as two cases visit Queensland

Queensland has recorded two new Covid incursions, a flight crew member and a truck driver, but no locally acquired cases, with a road map to reopen the state expected in ‘five to six weeks’.

Queensland has had two new Covid incursions, but no locally acquired cases.

It comes as Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young warned that every Queenslander would end up infected with Covid, and vaccination was the only way out of it.

One of the incursions was a flight crew member who is “no risk” to Queensland as they are on their way to Papua New Guinea.

The flight crew member tested positive upon mandatory testing entry into hotel quarantine.

They left for Papua New Guinea before the result came through.

The second case was a truck driver from Victoria who has been double vaccinated with Pfizer.

Dr Young said the man received a phone call from Victoria and immediately got tested.

The man arrived via Goondiwindi.

She said he posed no risk at all to the community as he had received a call that he was positive shortly after crossing the border.

“He is no risk at all.”

“I thank him, and I thank all truck drivers.”

Dr Young said Queensland had a “real challenge” ahead of them that can be minimised through vaccination rates.

“We are all going to end up infected to Covid, every single one of us,” Dr Young said.

“But if you’ve been vaccinated it’s highly unlikely you will be sick, and definitely very unlikely that you will end up in hospital or the ICU.”

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Speaking at Bunnings Stafford where a vaccination centre is opening, Dr Young said people should grab a snag and get a jab this weekend.

Her warning was echoed by Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.

“The virus will go into every single one of our towns, into every city in Australia” she said.

“The question is, are you going to be protected?”

“What sort of Christmas do you want to see? What sort of 2022 do you want to see? We can’t do it without your help.

“Vaccination is the only way out of this.

“Do it for tourism, do it for our health care workers, and do it for Queensland.”

Ms D’Ath said a road map for eased border restrictions could be expected within five to six weeks but flagged NSW’s decision to open up quarantine-free international travel meant the Covid threat had escalated.

“If NSW is going to be letting international arrivals in with no quarantine by November 1, we have no time to waste,” she said.

“How quickly we can open up is in the hands of Queenslanders.

“We can’t drag people to get vaccinated.”

Dr Young said that there has been an “enormous change” that was still being workshopped regarding the QLD and NSW borders and new arrivals.

She said it was much easier to bring back Queenslanders with support in the state, and

“the most important thing Queenslanders can do to support new arrivals is get vaccinated.”

Ms D’Ath said two per cent of health care workers were unvaccinated and were either on leave or being instructed to wear extra PPE.

But she said patients could not reject treatment from an unvaccinated worker.

“A large majority of our health care workers, especially those on our front line, are already vaccinated.”

“The risk of someone being treated who is unvaccinated is extremely low.”

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Photo: Steve Pohlner

Queensland currently has 28 active Covid-19 cases, 9405 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours and 16,072 vaccinations were administered.

A total of 71.35 per cent of all eligible Queenslanders have received their first dose and 54.77 per cent second doses.

Ms D’Ath revealed that in “exciting news”, Queensland had hit 80 per cent double doses for those 70 years and over.

She said it was “fantastic” as it was such a “vulnerable group”.

“To know that they are already 80 per cent double dosed is wonderful.”

She set a challenge to those under the age of 70 to also reach the same threshold.

“There is no reason to delay getting the vaccine now.”

Ms D’Ath said Queensland’s lack of vaccination supply was due to the increased supply provided to South Wales and Victoria.

“We haven’t had the supply very recently to be able to open up more sites,” she said.

She rejected the idea Queensland would have been in a better vaccination position if the state was among the outbreak down south.

“Over 500 people have died from that outbreak.”

“No. We’ve had seven deaths since day one.

“We are going to do that in a sensible way.”

It comes as News South Wales announced travel between Greater Sydney and the regions would be delayed until November 1 despite promises to scrap the travel restriction at 80 per cent double vaccination.

NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole revealed the restart date on breakfast radio this morning, saying the delay would help “protect” regional areas with lagging jab rates.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announces the governments extension to the Dine and Discover vouchers to support economic recovery. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

But in better news for Australian’s returning to NSW from overseas, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced that from November 1, quarantine would end for returning Australians who can prove their vaccination status.

“People coming into here, you’ll need to do a PCR test before you board the flight, you will need to show proof of your double vaccination,” the Premier said.

“For double vaccinated people around the world, Sydney, New South Wales is open for business… hotel quarantine is a thing of the past.”

Mr Perrottet added that from November 1, booking caps for hospitality venues would be scrapped.

“We had a cap in place of 20 per booking from November 1, well that will be removed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Victoria has recorded another 2179 local Covid infections, bringing the total number of active cases across the state to 21324.

Friday is the second consecutive day case numbers have crashed through the 2000 mark, following the announcement of an Australian record 2297 cases and 11 deaths yesterday.