Premier reveals state’s ‘biggest issue’ as restrictions kick off despite no new local cases

Despite no new local Covid cases being recorded in Queensland overnight, new restrictions will be put in place in Goondiwindi, while the border bubble will also tighten as the Moree cluster grows.

Despite no new local Covid cases being recorded in Queensland overnight, new restrictions will be put in place in Goondiwindi, while the border bubble will also tighten as a cluster in Moree grows.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said visitor restrictions will be imposed in hospitals and aged care facilities in Goondiwindi this weekend and border exemptions will be narrowed, while Moree will be removed from the Queensland-NSW border bubble, as the number of active cases there grows to 38.

Some 245 people in Goondiwindi came forward to get tested following three cases there on Thursday.

Just over 65 per cent of Queenslanders are now fully vaccinated.

Queenslanders have again been urged to get the jab, with many Bunnings offering pop-up clinics this weekend.

“When the borders open we will be seeing hundreds of cases,” the Premier said.

“What we are seeing in Goondiwindi is a highly-vaccinated community … and the virus hunting you down.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Ms Palaszczuk said vaccination was the passport to everyone’s freedom.

She said Queensland’s ‘biggest issue’ was the 18-39 age group who had low vaccination rates.

“A lot of people in that age group are probably thinking ‘do I need to get vaccinated’ and the answer is ‘yes, you do’,” she said.

She reminded people in the younger demographic that upcoming music events, such as festivals, may limit ticket holders to the double-vaccinated only.

She also said that the government was looking at a social media campaign aimed specifically at encouraging young people to get the jab.

The Premier also took aim at the Gold Coast residents, stating that they needed to “really lift their game”.

She revealed that 77 per cent of locals had received their first dose but she was “concerned” about double-dosage rates due to their proximity from the border.

“I am concerned that the Sunshine Coast has much higher vaccination levels than the Gold Coast, and the Gold Coast is really close to the border,” she said.

“We are seeing what is happening at the moment at Goondiwindi and exactly the same could happen on the Gold Coast.”

She urged all Gold Coast residents, or even those visiting the Gold Coast area for a holiday, to be vaccinated.

“This virus hunts down people.”

Ms Palaszczuk warned that without vaccination rates continuing to rise, local hospitals will see a surge in Covid patients.

“If you are unvaccinated, you could end up in the hospital or ICU. This is happening in other states,” she said.

“This is a clear wake-up call to Queenslanders.”

Queensland is expected to hit the 70 per cent double dose mark in mid-November and 80 per cent in mid-December.

“I hope it will be earlier, but it is down to people going out and getting vaccinated,” she said.

“Having one dose is better than having no doses”

Acting chief health officer Peter Aitken said authorities were “cautiously optimistic” about the situation in Goondiwindi.

Dr Aitken said he would love to stand up next week and say Queensland had reached 80 per cent first dose.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said there was no excuse not to get vaccinated this weekend with so many locations open.

Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski warned Queenslanders that police “weren’t going away” and would continue enforcing restrictions.

He said additional police had been sent to Goondiwindi to patrol the border.

National Cabinet is due to meet today, with Ms Palaszczuk stating that she expected a large part of the meeting would focus on booster jabs.

She said that she expected it to be a very long meeting.

“The papers were as thick as a Tolstoy novel,” she said.

BRISBANE AIRPORT ON EXPOSURE SITES LIST

Brisbane Airport was added to the Covid exposure sites list overnight, as Queenslanders peer nervously at the growing cluster over the border.

Health authorities issued an alert for anyone who was at Brisbane Domestic Airport on Sunday between 2.40pm and 6.04pm, with those at the Qantas food court area on level 2 now considered a close contact.

The update comes after three new cases were announced in the border town of Goondiwindi on Thursday – all linked to a worsening spread in the nearby NSW community of Moree – with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk bursting the border bubble to help snuff out the threat.

Moree – just 90 minutes from Goondiwindi – was declared a restricted border zone area from 12.01am on Friday after it recorded an additional 30 cases on Thursday.

Two of the three new Queensland cases had visited the community, while the third Queensland case on Thursday was linked to the first two.

Only one of the newly infected people had received a dose of the vaccine.

A NSW woman and a Victorian truck driver also tested positive interstate after being infectious in Goondiwindi.

The state government warned the new cases were a taste of the of the coming Covid tide, with government pleading with residents to protect themselves for an inevitable surge at the reopening of borders on December 17.

Ms Palaszczuk said working in Goondiwindi’s favour was the town’s high vaccination rate.

The community, which has a significant Indigenous population, is more than 81.5 per cent fully vaccinated, well above the 65.3 per cent statewide average.

However, the wider rate in regional Queensland still remains a concern and Ms Palaszczuk also singled out Ipswich, Logan, Beaudesert and the Gold Coast in the state’s southeast corner.