Covid Qld: Latest case numbers revealed as authorities deal with scares in Cairns and Toowoomba

Queensland’s acting chief health officer says there will be an “evolution” in mask wearing in the state once the border reopens and as vaccination rates increase, but they will still play a “very, very important role”. It comes as no new cases were recorded overnight.

South East Queenslanders will likely get a reprieve from having to wear masks as the state teeters on the verge of 80 per cent double vaccinations, but the acting Chief Health Officer says it’s too soon to dump them completely.

Dr Peter Aitken said there would be an “evolution” in mask wearing as authorities continue to rely on them to curb future outbreaks and as people decided to wear them even without health advice compelling them to.

“Masks are very effective in reducing transmission,” he said.

“At the moment we’re in a fortunate position that we don’t have widespread community transmission - or none actually - but as our case numbers go up, and they inevitably will as we reach 80 per cent double vaccinated and we start to have people coming into the Queensland community, masks will play a very, very important role in helping to reduce community transmission.

“At the moment, while we have none, that’s something we’re looking at at the moment and it may be an opportunity to relax some of those restrictions around mask wearing.

“That’s a conversation we have to have but it may be a short reprieve as well if we do get, and we will get, community cases coming back in.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on October 19 said masks wouldn’t be required once the state hit 80 per cent fully vaccinated, while also warning people that venues could begin to shut out people who hadn’t been vaccinated.

Dr Aitken said there would be “an evolution in mask wearing and we’ll go through peaks and troughs as individuals choose to wear masks more than we advise”.

Mask use in Queensland will evolve, but they remain a very important tool in reducing the spread of the virus. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath confirmed Queensland recorded no new cases overnight, as authorities at either end of the state uncover more details surrounding two separate cases.

It comes as she refused to clarify further on whether there would be a directive put in place regarding unvaccinated customers, which has triggered uncertainty in the business community as Christmas approaches.

It comes as a Cairns woman was on Sunday declared as the source of the Northern Territory’s Covid-19 cluster in a new twist that authorities confirmed mean she was infectious in the Queensland community.

A public health alert has been issued for contact tracing locations in Cairns and Mission Beach, with Cairns Central Shopping Centre among the list of exposure sites.

The shock revelation was one of two Covid scares at opposite ends of the state, with authorities investigating if Toowoomba Hospital had been exposed to Covid-19 as a result of the recent Goondiwindi cluster, before Monday morning’s confirmation the close contact of a case who had visited the site had tested negative.

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath. Picture: NCA Newswire / Dan Peled

Ms D’Ath said there were 13 active cases and authorities would like to see testing rates increase, particularly in areas around where recent cases had popped up.

She said the government would continue to consult with businesses about whether a directive would be put in place regarding becoming fully vaccinated venues as fed-up business owners expect hit out against the politics and uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the state next month.

“The comments about the economy, we have really led the way when it comes to our recovery out of Covid because of the measures we’ve taken, and the very low cases and the very few lockdowns that we’ve had,” she said.

She said other jurisdictions also haven’t decided on blanket restrictions on businesses that are exposed to positive cases.

“We don’t see those sorts of rules clearly laid out in other jurisdictions either,” she said.

“We’ve never gotten to the point of being absolute with restrictions for every single case.”

Dr Aitken asked businesses to make sure their staff was vaccinated but there wasn’t a directive in place at the moment.

“There’s meetings happening at the moment to define those restrictions, and not just restrictions but rewards,” he said.

Ms D’Ath said the state has a “very clear plan” regarding home quarantine which would see more people moving to Queensland and spending more money to help the economy.

She said the government can’t be definitive about the time frame of when the state will hit 90 per cent fully vaccinated.

The state has now reached 67.14 per cent fully vaccinated.

Ms D’Ath said the government would take the health advice and learn from what was happening interstate to see if all close contacts still needed to go into quarantine.

“It will depend on the circumstances, it will depend on the vaccination rates in certain towns,” she said.

Ms D’Ath continued the push for Queenslanders to get vaccinated while praising those who went out over the weekend to get their shots.

More than 50 per cent of the 5502 doses administered at Bunnings hubs around the state were first doses, she said.

She urged people not to wait for their second dose, and to get it as soon as they were due.

Deputy Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy said he was “really concerned” about Delta entering the Gold Coast, in particular, if residents remain complacent about the vaccine rollout.

“What I am really concerned about on the Gold Coast is that it’s right on the border, and we know that once Delta comes in, it will be one of the first towns that the virus comes to,” Mr Chelepy said on ABC radio on Monday morning.

“I would have liked to have seen the Gold Coast leading the vaccine rollout, I think we do still have a level of complacency.”

He said many regions he was previously concerned about have seen a “good uplift” in vaccination rates in recent weeks.

However, the vaccine rates in some regions are still of concern.

“We’ve still got some areas, Mareeba, Charters Towers, the Isaac area are still low,” Mr Chelepy said.

“We’re using our disaster management system to sit down with the local mayors, our local health services and the local disaster management group and we’ll look at what other solutions we can put into those towns.”

The government is working on implementing vaccination status into the state’s check in app.

Katherine, NT, will no longer be considered a hot spot from 4pm today. There will also be restrictions for visitors to Toowoomba Hospital after a close contact of a Covid case who has since tested negative, visited at the weekend.

There were 5879 tests in the past 24 hours and 10,626 vaccinations.

The Minister said that the government will look at the most recent Doherty modelling that will be released today but that they’ve already laid out their plan in regards to international travel.

“We know the virus is going to come in, let’s do it in a safe and sensible way.”

Dr Aitken said there would always be minor staffing challenges around hospitals, but said the loss of unvaccinated workers hasn’t shown a “significant impact” on Queenslanders just yet.

He said that using rapid antigen testing was being discussed for use, however it wasn’t the right moment to use them at the moment as it was more important to get an accurate result.

“I think there will be a role for rapid antigen testing in the future,” he said.

Originally published as Covid Qld: Latest case numbers revealed as authorities deal with scares in Cairns and Toowoomba