Annastacia Palaszczuk announces three-day snap lockdown for southeast QLD, Townsville, Magnetic and Palm Islands
Queensland has been plunged into a three-day lockdown after four new cases, including a young woman who worked in a Covid-19 area of a major Brisbane hospital but was not vaccinated and who has the Delta strain.
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Queensland has been plunged into a three-day lockdown from 6pm tonight after four new cases, including a young woman who worked in a Covid-19 area of a major Brisbane hospital but was not vaccinated and who has the Delta strain.
The lockdown comes after four new cases of coronavirus were detected in Queensland in the past 24 hours, including in the young woman.
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From 6pm tonight until 6pm Friday night, southeast Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island will go into a three-day lockdown.
The 11 southeast Queensland council areas to be locked down are Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Scenic Rim, Somerset and Lockyer Valley.
Queensland now has 41 active cases of the virus, mostly the highly contagious Delta variant, and health authorities are concerned there may be undetected cases in the community.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said two of the four cases recorded overnight were locally acquired. The others were acquired overseas and detected in quarantine.
Of the overnight cases, one was a miner from Ipswich connected to a Northern Territory mine.
The other is a 19-year-old casual clerical worker from The Prince Charles Hospital, who was infectious in the community for 10 days.
“The risk is real,” said Ms Palaszczuk.
“It’s time for us to act quickly and act fast.”
She said the lockdown will enable contact tracers to get on top of the exposure sites.
Ms Palaszczuk earlier said health authorities did not know the variant of the virus the woman had, but about 5pm, information on genomic sequencing confirmed she has the Delta strain that has caused havoc in Sydney.
That would determine the risk she presented while out and about in the community.
The 19-year-old woman went to Sandgate Woolworths between 9-10.30am on Sunday, June 20, and then the Bay Health Gym.
She worked at the Prince Charles Hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday before travelling on VA369 from Brisbane to Townsville at 10am on Thursday.
They spent one hour at Cafe Brewery at the airport before going to Magnetic Island at midday.
About 2500 people on Magnetic Island have been urged to get tested regardless of symptoms.
The woman travelled back from the island to Townsville on Sunday to attend the markets before flying on VA374 at 2.55pm on Sunday to Brisbane.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was “absolutely furious” the worker had not been vaccinated, and that there would be an investigation into why.
The woman was working in a part of the Prince Charles that was put aside for Covid-19 services.
Two people in the woman’s household are unwell, as well as one of her friends, with testing under way.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was unaware whether the woman’s friend, who is being tested for the Covid-19 virus, was also a worker at the hospital.
Dr Young said she could not be definitive how the Prince Charles Hospital case caught the virus, but was “furiously trying to get more information”.
“This particular individual … sat outside the Covid ward at The Prince Charles Hospital,” she said. “There might be a link there.”
Dr Young said the returned miners, five Virgin flights, Portuguese cluster, another unlinked case and the new Townsville case were of concern.
“I’m worried there might be a case out there in the community,” she said.
She urged anyone who was in any of the relevant airports around those times to closely monitor their symptoms.
“It is a significant risk,” Dr Young said.
Ms Palaszczuk said it was essential to give contact tracers time to get on top of the situation.
“We will be setting up fever clinics on Magnetic Island and in Townsville,” she said.
The Premier said she was still concerned about the number of overseas travellers coming into the state.
“Hotel quarantine is just not the answer,” she said. “We need a massive reduction in overseas arrivals. I am urging the Prime Minister reduce the caps … to reduce the caps.”
She said the number of Australians coming home should be reduced – saying it should only be for cases of genuine hardship.
The Premier apologised for the lockdown, acknowledging it would be tough for a lot of families.
“I don’t want to see people end up in our hospitals and on ventilators,” she said.
During the lockdown, restaurants and cafes will be restricted to takeaway services.
People will still be able to leave the house to get vaccinated, and to access essential health care.
Other reasons for people to leave home include:
– essential work and study that cannot be done from home.
– to care for a vulnerable person.
– to buy essential supplies, such as food and medication.
– to exercise locally outdoors, with members of the same household or one person from outside the household.
Places of worship, gyms and beauty services will be closed.
Two visitors can still visit another person’s home.
Dr Young said the number of exceptions to home lockdown was deliberately small.
“It’s really limited. We need people to not move around,” she said.
“You should now finish your day wherever you are … and go home.”
In relation to the mine outbreak, Dr Young said health officials have ensured all of the outstanding miners are in quarantine.
“That is a continuing risk for Queensland,” she said.
Dr Young would not speculate about whether the lockdown was likely to extend beyond the three days.
“I need to see how things evolve over the next 24-48 hours,” she said.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said multiple outbreaks in Queensland’s southeast could be traced back to international arrivals.
“Our international borders are supposed to be closed,” Mr Miles said.
Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police would increase high visibility patrols and enforce mask wearing.
He said anyone who left the lockdown local government areas before 6pm would still be required to follow lockdown procedures.
From 1am masks were made mandatory across 11 local government areas to contain the highly contagious Delta strain.
The mandate comes after three new cases, including a Sunshine Coast woman infected with the highly-infection Delta strain.
National Retail Association CEO Dominique Lamb said Queensland businesses were sweating on today’s news from Ms Palaszczuk.
“Southeast Queensland is very, very nervous today and waiting with bated breath to hear the Premier,” she said.
“Because there is this uncertainty – the language of ‘imminent’ and ‘on the verge’ lockdowns – it does create fear and uncertainty.”
Ms Lamb said $15bn was set to be spent in end of financial year sales, however lockdowns in Perth, Darwin, and Sydney had affected expenditure.
“Really, the country is in a bit of a mess,” she said.
New exposure sites have been listed on the Gold Coast and authorities fear Covid-19 could already be circling in the community.
Ms Palaszczuk’s press conference will take place as hundreds converge on Brisbane hospitals attempting to get the Covid vaccine.
The Courier-Mail understands the surge in demand for vaccinations is due to growing fears over a widespread Covid outbreak in Queensland and potential lockdown.
It was also in part triggered by Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing overnight that the AstraZeneca vaccine would be made available to all Australians, as long as they signed a non-faulty indemnity.
Medical advice is that AstraZeneca only be used for over-60s, which the Prime Minister said was only a preference, and GPs could now more freely provide them to patients that wanted them.
The federal government will oversee the scheme.
Hundreds of people were queued outside the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on Tuesday morning seeking to get vaccinated despite not having an appointment.
A Queensland Health spokesman said while the hospital would vaccinate those without an appointment, people faced long waits.
Currently, with more than 200 hundred people in the queue, wait times are around an hour, but that is expected to grow across the morning.
A man aged in his 20s told The Courier-Mail he had arrived early without an appointment but had managed to get vaccinated.
Kelly Parra and friend Tatiana Pinedda said they had other friends who received the Pfizer vaccine a few weeks ago and decided to try their luck this morning.
“We do not care which vaccine we get, we just hope it doesn’t take too long” Ms Parra said.
“Three hours is the longest we would want to wait today.
“AZ or Pfizer, we don’t mind, we just want to get vaccinated especially with the community transmission at the moment.”
He would not reveal the reveal which vaccine he received, but had been given a choice.
A woman aged in her 20s said she had some concerns about getting the AstraZeneca vaccine but ultimately would get it if that was the only option.
The woman, who declined to be named, said while she understood the risk of blood clots or complications was extremely low, she would be more comfortable with Pfizer.
She said she was willing to wait up to two hours to get the vaccine this morning.
Most of the younger people queuing outside the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital said while they would prefer to get Pfizer, they would take AstraZeneca if that was their only option.
About 9.30am the line was still stretching along Butterfield Street as many arrive without an appointment.
Those with a pre-booked vaccine appointment are able to skip the cue.
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Originally published as Annastacia Palaszczuk announces three-day snap lockdown for southeast QLD, Townsville, Magnetic and Palm Islands
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