Coronavirus Qld: More Victorian border dodgers caught as 900 locals potentially exposed

Some 900 Queenslanders have potentially come into contact with a Victorian couple who tested positive for Covid after breaking lockdown, as more border dodgers are exposed.

Some 900 Queenslanders have alerted authorities they have potentially come into contact with a Victorian couple who tested positive for Covid after breaking lockdown, as it is revealed more border dodgers have been exposed.

Queensland has recorded no new cases of Covid-19 overnight, as the state continues to reel from revelations two people who left Melbourne’s lockdown later tested positive for the virus in Queensland. There are currently 15 active cases of the virus, all in hotel quarantine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk this morning said there had been 11,348 vaccines administered in Queensland in the past 24 hours.

Police are still waiting until it is considered safe to interview the infected couple, who remain in isolation in Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

The duo face prosecution in three states, and possible jail time, over skipping Melbourne’s lockdown.

Police are reviewing whether security needs to be strengthened at the border, the Premier said.

“Honestly everyone needs to do the right thing,” she said.

“There was a lockdown on in Melbourne, they shouldn’t have left Victoria, and it just puts people at risk.

“I know there’s an investigation into that.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said she had been informed that there were other Victorians who managed to come into Queensland without the correct exemptions.

“I’ve been advised this morning by the Deputy Police Commissioner that there are other people coming across our border from Victoria who are driving up through New South Wales, crossing our border from Victoria who do not have the exemptions or travel declarations to do so,” Ms D’Ath said.

“We will be making sure that you are found. This is an offence. You cannot come into this state if you are from a hotspot and put our state at risk. And we will make sure that you will face the consequences if you do that.”

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski confirmed five other people have been identified as failing to comply with directions coming into Queensland, two in the Darling Downs, one in Dalby and two in the Wide Bay district.

All five people who entered Queensland without border passes were sent to hotel quarantine and returned negative test results.

There have been 3343 vehicles randomly intercepted as they came through checkpoints since May 28.

Mr Gollschewski said the police investigation into the Melbourne couple was progressing.

He said police were yet to interview the couple about any possible offences but expected to in the next few days.

“We have not yet interviewed them in terms of any offences and we do not plan to do so until we are advised by Health it is safe to do so,” he said.

He said interviews were expected to happen within the next week.

Ms D’Ath said some 900 locals had voluntarily come forward, saying they may have been in contact with the Victorian couple.

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said there were 316 close contacts of the couple identified, with 41 of those testing negative.

“We also have a grand total of 959 people who have identified themselves through our portal as having been in either one of the close contact or the casual contact venues,” she said.

Dr Young said genomic sequencing suggested the couple had the Kappa variant but that their

“viral load was very low”.

“It looks like they have the Kappa variant, which is slightly less infectious, but still more infectious than previous variants,” she said.

“They did both have some virus there, but the viral load was very low.”

Dr Young urged anyone with symptoms to get tested.

Ms D’Ath also announced a new temporary walk-in vaccination centre would be trialled at the Caloundra Sports Centre until June 23.

People aged between 16-49 will able to just walk in and get their vaccination.

“The only people who will be able to come and get vaccinated who are 50-plus are those who are in the 1 A and 1 B group, who are front-line workers or residential aged care and disability workers,” she said.

“If you cannot identify as working in one of those areas, you are still required to go to your GP or a Commonwealth vaccination centre for your vaccination.”

She encouraged Queenslanders 50 years and older to see their general practitioners about getting a Covid vaccination.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warns the over 50s in the retirement town of Caloundra to be patient in the rush to get their COVID-19 jab as not all GPs have the capacity to deal with a big rush.

As locals scramble to be vaccinated the Health Minister Yvette D’Ath yesterday announced that the walk-in vaccination hub at the Caloundra Sports Centre was available only to those aged 16 to 49.

“You could argue that 60 would have been a better cut off point for the hub but it can be safer for older people to see their GP. In reality though not every surgery is equipped to handle a mad crazy rush and we don’t want staff abused.

“Really, this is a lesson not to wait until there is a scare to be vaccinated,” Dr Bruce Willett told The Courier-Mail.

Meanwhile, Ms D’Ath said Queensland’s hotspot rules were changed from 1am this morning from the whole of Victoria to Greater Melbourne.

“If you are from greater Melbourne, and you are a non-resident of Queensland, you cannot enter the state without a travel declaration and an exemption,” she said.

“We have reduced the hotspot area from the whole of Victoria to greater Melbourne, but there is still a hotspot declaration in place and we do require people to follow those directions.”

Gold Coast District Acting Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman warned Victorians against flouting Covid-19 rules.

He said there was on-the-spot fines of more than $4000 available to officers, “but there’s a bigger picture in this”.

“We’ve got to work as one community in this situation and we have to make sure that each individual is doing the best they can to follow these directions to keep us all safe,” he said.

“We’re heavily reliant on each other to do the right thing so we can get through this safely.

“There’s criminal provisions and financial implications around disobeying these directions, but really it’s about maintaining community safety.”

Supt Wildman said police could re-erect checkpoints within 24 hours if required and the Gold Coast District would “reach into other areas of the service in relation to staffing” if needed.