Police numbers increase at QLD border checkpoints to protect against Covid
Local health authorities urge people to get tested immediately as a second sample from sewerage treatment plant detects traces of Covid-19.
Lismore
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Local health authorities fear more fragments of Covid found in the Lennox Head sewerage indicates someone in the community has Covid-19.
Lynne Weir, acting chief executive of Northern NSW Local Health District said there were no new cases confirmed, but more fragments of fragments of the virus that causes Covid-19 had been found in samples collected from the Lennox Head sewage treatment plant on Sunday August 15, following an original detection at that site on August 12.
Ms Weir said the Lennox Head sewage treatment plan served approximately 7700 people.
“We are very concerned about what these results mean for our community,” she said.
“Given this second detection, it’s likely there is someone in the community who is
infected with the virus, perhaps unknowingly.
“So that you can protect both yourself and our wider community, we strongly urge
anyone who is even slightly unwell to come forward for testing immediately, then isolate
until they receive a negative result.
“This not only helps our public health teams respond quickly, it also means that if you
do become more severely ill, we can provide necessary medical care and treatment.
“Covid-19 is a serious illness, and as we have seen, affects people of all ages.”
In response, a new testing clinic was operational in Lennox Head today see details below).
NSW Health’s Dr Jeremy McAnulty agreed the detection was a cause for concern, and urged people to get tested immediately.
“Cases may spring up everywhere, as we have seen,” Dr McAnulty said.
“Sewerage detection of Covid fragments at Lennox Head where there are no known cases was concerning, there may be undetected cases.”
Deputy Commissioner, Mick Willing warned people in NSW to heed Public Health Orders.
“If you’re going to breach the orders anywhere in the state, you will be caught,” he said.
“Not just today, not just tomorrow, but for the next 21 days.”
The uncontained outbreak across NSW, and the uncertainty about the Covid situation on the Northern Rivers had also prompted tighter control of the QLD border.
The QLD Premier said border control was the state’s “last line of defence” against Covid-19, and police numbers along the NSW/QLD border were being bolstered to ensure people in NSW were adhering to the stay-at-home orders.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said 25 police officers were being sent to the Coolangatta/ Tweed Heads border control points, and a further 25 along the border.
“There will be a big police presence along our border,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“We are doing everything we can to keep Queenslanders safe.”
The Premier said 10,000 cars were stopped at the border, and 1000 were turned back.
This morning, however, there was barely a car in sight trying to cross the border in Tweed Heads.
Ms Palaszczuk said her government would continue to talk with their NSW counterparts about moving the border checkpoint south to the Tweed River.
“It would make life a lot easier for our police”, she said if the border checkpoint was moved.
She said she would send up a follow up letter to the NSW Premier to formally extend the offer to move the checkpoint into NSW.
“We can only ask,” she said. “It’s up to the NSW Premier.
She acknowledged NSW faced a crisis, and said, “I’d hate to be in their shoes.”
Ms Palaszczuk confirmed essential workers only needed one Covid dose to cross the QLD border, and that in QLD, those workers were being prioritised.
She said most essential workers would be categorised 1A or 1B, so had been eligible for the vaccine for some time.
She said she did not believe people with exemptions to cross the border, for reasons such as medical appointments, were not required to have a vaccine, but needed to check on that point.
Ms Palaszczuk said her team would look into claims funeral workers had not been able to cross the border to work.
She also confirmed QLD would make a bid to host the NRL Grand Final.
Meanwhile, NSW Health said Covid-19 testing rates on the Northern Rivers have almost doubled since a Sydney man tested positive on August 8.
The acting chief executive of Northern NSW Local Health District, Lynne Weir, said 18,198 tests were conducted from August 8-14, almost double the previous week’s tally of 9220.
Ms Weir said there had been no new confirmed cases of Covid-19 within residents of Northern NSW Local Health District up until Sunday night.
Ms Weir said with the recent detections of virus fragments in sewage at Lismore, Ballina and Lennox Head, it was vital people take the highest precautions and get a test as soon
as they feel even slightly unwell.
“The more testing we have in our area, the more likely we are to be able to identify any
new cases quickly, reducing the time they may be infectious in the community, and
reducing the risk that they may pass it onto others,” Ms Weir said.
New Covid testing clinics
A new drive through testing clinic will open from Tuesday, August 17 in Murwillumbah, to
supplement the small number of other permanent testing facilities in that area.
• QML Pathology Drive Through clinic, Epiq Sporting Field, Hutley Street,
Lennox Head (Opposite Epiq Shopping Centre). Open daily 9am – 2pm
• 4Cyte Pathology Drive Through clinic, Murwillumbah Railway Station, 250 Tweed
Valley Way, Murwillumbah. Open 7.30am to 3.30pm seven days.
Other clinics in Murwillumbah and Lennox Head / Ballina region are:
• Lennox Head Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, 62 Ballina Street, Lennox Head.
Open Monday to Friday 7am to 3.30pm. Appointments required.
• Ballina 4Cyte Pathology Drive-through clinic. 319 River Street, Ballina. Open
seven days a week, 7am – 2pm. Appointments not required.
• Ballina Respiratory Clinic, 92 Tamar Street, Tamar Shopping Village, Ballina.
Open Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4.30pm. Appointments required.
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• Ballina Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology. 90 Tamar Street, Ballina. Open Monday
to Friday 7.00am – 5.30pm. Appointments not required.
• Murwillumbah Respiratory Clinic, 14 King Street, Murwillumbah. Open Monday to
Friday from 9:15am to 4:30pm, appointments required.
• Murwillumbah Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, 14 King Street, Murwillumbah. Open
Monday to Friday from 8am to 1pm, and 2pm to 4:30pm, no appointment required.
To find your nearest testing clinic, visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-to-protect-yourself-and-others/clinics or contact your GP.
The drive through clinic located at Bangalow Showground was now closed. People in the
Bangalow region are encouraged to attend the Byron Central Hospital testing clinic,
which was open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm.
“We appreciate the feedback we receive from our communities, and we are continually
reviewing the demand at testing clinics across the District,” Ms Weir said.
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