Hopes grow Qld lockdown disaster avoided after zero cases, but concerns remain

Queensland’s health authorities are confident the state has avoided another lockdown...for now.

Health authorities are confident southeast Queensland has avoided another snap lockdown, with attention now turning to increasing the number of people vaccinated.

There were no new local cases of Covid-19 on Monday and five in hotel quarantine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said several concerned residents had asked her over the weekend if they would be plunged into another lockdown, but she was now confident that was becoming less and less likely.

“That risk is decreasing, which is good news,” she said.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young and her team spent the weekend frantically contact tracing after a 46-year-old truck driver emerged as a new local case last week.

The man, located between the Gold Coast and Brisbane, had been infectious in the community for several days.

A four-year-old girl and her mother, both close contacts of the man, were revealed as new local cases on Friday night and Sunday respectively, sparking fears of community spread at a childcare centre and school.

Dr Young on Monday praised the community for helping to make health authorities’ job easier.

“We’ve been getting a lot of assistance,” she said.

“I think the risk is decreasing, which is fantastic, but it’s still not zero.”

Dr Young is concerned about a number of Covid-19 threats in Queensland. NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

The Boulevard Early Learning Centre at Mount Warren Park and Windaroo State School have been assigned as close contact venues for all of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Stylish Nails at the Beenleigh Marketplace (Monday, August 30, 10.30am – 11.45am) and Total Tools (Sunday August 29, 9.20am – 10am) in the same suburb were also added to the close contact alert list.

Dr Young was initially concerned about the beauty salon because several customers had not signed in using the Queensland Government’s check-in app.

The manager and four staff have since tested negative, as have four customers.

“There are still three or four patrons...that we can’t yet identify,” she said.

However in good news, the customers seated next to the four-year-old girl have tested negative.

Anyone who was at any of the locations is ordered to get tested, contact Queensland Health and isolate for 14 days regardless of the test result.

Authorities have asked for an uptick in testing in the state’s southeast. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

There were 10,192 vaccines administered across Queensland on Sunday.

Ms Palaszczuk said now was the time for people to roll up their sleeves and get jabbed.

“This is our window of opportunity Queensland to get vaccinated,” she said.

More than 800 people from Logan, the region at risk after the latest scare, attended the new walk-in hub on Sunday to get their injections.

“We’ll be looking at more walk-ins across the state as more vaccination hubs come onine,” the premier said.

Just 34.51 per cent of Queenslanders are fully-vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in Australia.

Originally published as Hopes grow Qld lockdown disaster avoided after zero cases, but concerns remain