Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk provides update on COVID-19 in Queensland
Queensland has recorded its first new case of coronavirus in eight days, but because it is not linked to the Logan cluster, restrictions on aged care homes will be lifted.
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Queensland has only recorded one new case from an overseas traveller in quarantine.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed that because the new case was not linked to the Logan cluster, aged care restrictions would be lifted.
It brings the total number of cases in Queensland since the pandemic began to 1,089.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said Queensland could “safely” reopen aged care facilities again.
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“The one aged care facility that we can’t open yet is that one in north Brisbane,” she said.
“It needs to be closed for another day and a half.”
Dr Young praised those Queenslanders who came forward in “droves” to get tested.
She urged Queenslanders to maintain social distancing, as border bubble exemptions between Queensland and New South Wales border communities begin today.
“At the moment the most northern cases in New South Wales are in Newcastle,” she said.
There have been another 8000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said that Queensland has avoided the risk of an outbreak, as Australia marked its deadliest weekend from the virus.
He urged anyone who provided their contact details at venues to make sure they are genuine.
He said there had also been a large number of applications for exemptions.
“I’d like to emphasise that these are special arrangements that have been put in place,” he said.
Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said that 99 flights have entered the state with six people refused entry.
He said two people had been given penalties for breaching quarantine, as 99 flights entered the state over the weekend.
Dr Young said that the NRL would be working through recent breaches from within the NRL bubble.
“They let me know about every single breach,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk described the recent NRL breaches as “incredibly frustrating”.
Meanwhile, coronavirus infections among Victorian healthcare staff have more than doubled in the past fortnight amid concern that the true scale of the problem is being underestimated.
On Sunday, there were 994 active cases of COVID-19 among healthcare workers in Victoria, compared with 400 on July 27.