Three new cases, as Qld figures expected to grow
The Queensland nurses’ union boss has warned the public not to be complacent, saying the latest coronavirus numbers out of Victoria make her feel sick. It came as Queensland recorded a further three cases overnight.
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Queensland is as prepared as it can be for a potential second wave, the Queensland Nurses; and Midwives’ Union secretary says.
But Beth Mohle has warned the public not to become complacent, and to follow the directions of health experts.
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Asked whether there was enough personal protective equipment available for health staff, Ms Mohle told The Courier-Mail she was more confident now about levels in public hospitals than she was at the beginning of the pandemic.
“My understanding is... they have done significant work to enhance PPE in public hospitals and to bolster the integrity of the supply chain,” she said.
“The only nervousness I have is about the totality of the supply over the whole system (private, aged care).
“I haven’t got visibility over the whole system.”
Ms Mohle said the state was well positioned, insisting Queensland was used to disasters.
“Everybody across the public health system has done a fantastic job,” she said.
“I think we are as well prepared as we can be, and that’s down to really good planning.
“We should be proud of the response we’ve had so far.”
But Ms Mohle said looking at Victoria’s high numbers made her feel sick.
“We cannot be complacent,” she said.
“We have to follow the directions of the health experts on this.”
She said it was “gobsmacking” people couldn’t think about the consequences of their actions.
Asked if hospital visitor numbers should be further reduced in light of Queensland’s new cases, Ms Mohle said hospitals should make decisions on the best information available.
Queensland recorded three new cases of coronavirus overnight, on top of three cases detected yesterday, with the state’s Health Minister saying he expected the caseload to rise.
The three new cases include one international arrival and two interstate travellers who have been self-isolating since they arrived in Queensland.
Health Minister Steven Miles thanked the couple for self-isolating.
“It has kept Queenslanders safe,” he said.
He said the growing caseload justified yesterday’s decision to declare Greater Sydney as a COVID hot spot.
“It was the right decision,” he said.
But Mr Miles conceded ‘it wouldn’t be surprising if we had further cases’ with the exact movements of three COVID-positive Queenslanders currently unknown.
Mr Miles said authorities had seen a fourfold increase in testing in Brisbane’s Metro South area, with more than 6000 people tested, following confirmation yesterday that three young women had contracted the virus.
He said none of those tested had come back with a positive result.
“It is exactly how we will ensure we do not have community transfer,” he said.
“If there is anyone else out there who has been infected, we want to find them.”
Mr Miles said authorities had translated health advice into 10 different languages and were meeting with community leaders to ensure everyone in the community understood what was happening and what was required of them.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk slammed the actions of three young women who caught the virus and allegedly lied to authorities about their travels to Melbourne and Sydney.
“There is a social responsibility here for everyone to do the right thing,” she said.
“These are people who deliberately went about doing the wrong thing. I am angry.”
The Premier has urged anyone who is sick to stay home and to keep up with social distancing.
Queensland Health yesterday released a list of the places one of the young women visited over the infectious period, but Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young confirmed authorities still did not yet know where the second COVID-positive 19-year-old had been.
The woman is said to have been “uncooperative” with authorities.
The Premier called on Queenslanders to take the COVID threat seriously.
She said people should leave places where people weren’t socially distancing, like shopping centres.
“If you are sick, stay at home, do not go to work,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed authorities were aware that three women had in fact travelled to Victoria and back together, not just the two 19-year-old girls.
Earlier, Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles ruled out the return of Government-funded hotel quarantine but conceded the cost of quarantine could deter travellers from admitting their actual movements.
“That disincentive was something we considered when we put those charges in place … I suspect it wouldn’t have made a difference in this case,” he told ABC Radio.
“They’ve appeared to have lied to get around that and I don’t’ think the charges are necessarily the reason for that.”
Mr Miles said the government had ‘spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars’ on hotel quarantine and had offered people ‘a long time to get back home’ before the self-funded quarantine began.
Olivia Winnie Muranga and Diana Lasu both tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday night and Wednesday respectively, after returning to Queensland from a trip to Sydney and Melbourne almost one week before.
A 22-year-old sister of one of the girls – who did not travel to Melbourne or Sydney – also tested positive for the virus yesterday.
Mr Miles said Queensland Health was tracing the exact movements of those three people.
“They’ve been to a lot of places around throughout the south side including South Bank.”
“We did a list of places yesterday afternoon, they’re the places that we know of right now,” he said.
But that list ‘is just for one of the girls’, Mr Miles said.
Queensland Health is currently consulting 'go card' records and CCTV to identify whether the women used public transport services to travel.
However Mr Miles said Queensland Health was not currently concerned about public transport ‘at this stage’.
Police are also accessing flight manifests to contact people who were sitting near Ms Muranga and Ms Lasu on their flight – VA977 – a from Sydney to Brisbane.