Top cop admits confusion over Queensland’s new social-distancing rules
One of Queensland’s top cops has admitted there is confusion in the ranks about the state’s tough new social-distancing rules and conceded that until it was made clear, police would not be taking “direct enforcement action”.
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AUTHORITIES were scrambling to make sense of new social distancing measures overnight with one top cop conceding there was confusion and that the crackdown needed to be clarified.
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State Disaster Co-ordinator Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said a range of public health directions would be made clear by the Queensland Disaster Management Committee on Thursday.
It followed a confusing press conference where the Deputy Commissioner said until social distancing measures relating to “how many people can be inside houses, and how many people can be outside anywhere”, were made clear, police would not be taking “direct enforcement action”.
However police already have the power to hand out fines after Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young issued a directive dictating the home confinement requirements on the weekend.
“As we work through these (rules), around how many people can be inside houses and how many can be outside and where … we will clarify that, we will make it absolutely crystal clear to the community so they understand it,” Mr Gollschewski said.
At the same press conference, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “The key point of the two-person rule is for outside”.
She then had to seek clarification around whether 10 people could be invited over.
Dr Young's weekend directive says “groups of more than two persons who are not members of the same household” are prohibited “from gathering in any place except for permitted purposes”.
Officials were also forced to clarify rules around people visiting their partners in circumstances where they don't live alone. While people who ordinarily visit their partners and stay over are allowed to continue to do so, new relationships cannot start up under rules banning visitors.
However, people who live alone are allowed to invite one person over.
Another 40 cases of the novel coronavirus were announced yesterday, taking the state’s total to 781 – an increase of just five per cent.
The growth rate continues to drop in Queensland, suggesting strict social distancing measures, quarantine and border controls are working.
Queensland Health Director-General John Wakefield said nine patients were in intensive care with seven of them on ventilators.
Queensland infections represent 16.6 per cent of the Australian total of 4707 cases, despite the Sunshine State having 20 per cent of the national population.
NSW, which makes up almost a third of the Australian population, has 2182 cases of pandemic coronavirus, close to half of the nation's cases.
Queensland has conducted more than 50,800 tests for the virus in the past two months.
Across the world, more than 826,000 infections with the new virus have been recorded, including about 40,700 deaths.
Queensland border restrictions will also be tightened from Friday to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Anyone who is not a Queensland resident or considered exempt from the restrictions will not be able to enter Queensland from 12.01am on April 3. Anyone with an exemption must have a border pass prior to crossing into the state.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said if motorists did not have a pass, they would be turned around at the border.
“Freight transport services are exempt and will be allowed through without a border pass permit,” he said.
Meanwhile, Queensland Health has no plans to take on interstate patients amid the coronavirus crisis.
“As always, our priority is making sure our hospitals have the capacity to care for sick people in Queensland,” a department spokesman said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a clearly the main public focus right now but it is essential that our public health system continues to provide the same level of priority to the essential medical needs of our communities.
“People still need hospital care for everyday emergencies including heart attacks, strokes or road crash trauma.”
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