State government still deciding who will use Wellcamp quarantine site

With the controversial Wellcamp quarantine facility set to open in weeks, the Palaszczuk government is still trying to work out exactly who will use the hub. This is everything we know so far.

The Palaszczuk government is still working out who will actually use the Wellcamp quarantine facility in Toowoomba when it opens in just a matter of weeks.

Health officials on Sunday confirmed the site could be used to quarantine members of the community – such as the vulnerable who share a household with someone who has tested positive to Covid.

It came as Queensland recorded another 17,445 coronavirus cases, with 670 patients in hospital and 49 people being treated in intensive care.

Another three Queenslanders lost their lives to the virus, with two of them only having received one dose of the vaccine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced in October that international students would be the first group of people to use the Wellcamp facility when it opened – saying it was why her government “went it alone” with the site.

But on Sunday, Deputy Premier Steven Miles cast doubt on whether the site would be used by international students – revealing the government was still determining the cohorts that were “most appropriate” for using the facility

“As you would be aware if we continue on our current trajectory, we would hope to meet that 90 per cent (double vaccination) target this week,” he said.

“And that would allow vaccinated arrivals from countries where their vaccines are approved by our TGA to not quarantine on arrival.

“But there will continue to be a need for quarantine for some arrivals as well as for other cohorts.”

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard suggested the facility could be used by members of the community, but said that would be determined by Queensland Health.

“There are often circumstances where for example you have a household with more than one person in it and one person in that household is sick,” he said.

“But … another person might be very vulnerable. That might be the sort of person.

“These are the various options that we’re looking at at the moment.”

Construction of the site was completed as scheduled by the end of last year, with government staff now “operationalising” the facility – which the Deputy Premier said was due to be available in coming weeks.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles, with chief health officer John Gerrard at Doomben Vaccination Clinic in Ascot on Sunday. Picture: Richard Walker

Mr Miles wouldn’t say on Sunday how much the government had contributed to the site, maintaining that the financial arrangements of the quarantine facility was “commercial-in-confidence”.

“Our arrangement is a lease from the Wagner Corporation,” Mr Miles said.

“We have a 12 month lease with an option of a further 12 months if it is required.

“And the lease arrangement represents good value when compared to the very significant costs that we’ve incurred renting out entire hotels for the best part of the last two years.”

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said: “Neither the government nor taxpayers could possibly be any worse off by showing how much an arrangement like this is costing.”