Infected truck driver enters Queensland but CHO Jeannette Young says ‘no risk to anyone at all’

Health authorities have been notified of another infected truck driver who entered Queensland and is now in hospital.

Health authorities have revealed another truck driver drove into southeast Queensland but the state’s top doctor says the man was not infectious in the community and was “no risk to anyone at all”.

A new case recorded in the hotel quarantine system was also revealed to be a flight crew member who had since travelled onto Papua New Guinea.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the truck driver had received both doses of the Pfizer jab “which is fantastic to see” and was detected swiftly on arrival.

“All truck drivers driving into Queensland from other states where there are cases have to have had at least one dose of vaccine,” she told reporters on Friday morning.

“He drove up from Victoria, he arrived through the Goondiwindi border area coming through Ipswich when he got a phone call from Victoria.

Dr Young said there was no threat to the community. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath speaks at the Bunnings Store at Stafford in Brisbane. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

“He immediately pulled over, contacted us and he’s now in the Prince Charles Hospital.

“So he’s no risk to anyone at all — he’s totally asymptomatic and I thank him very much for responding so quickly.”

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath refused to reveal when a road map to opening the state’s domestic border would be announced and provided a sobering correction to her optimistic comments earlier in the week.

On Tuesday, she said the “target is getting yourself protected in the next five to six weeks”, which was viewed by many as a hint to when Queensland would allow family and loved ones to visit from NSW and Victoria for Christmas.

But Ms D’Ath backtracked on these comments on Friday after it was announced international travellers would no longer be required to complete hotel quarantine in NSW from next month.

“If you get your vaccine today, it will be five to six weeks before you are covered by that vaccine and that’s why you can’t afford to wait,” she said.

“If NSW is going to be letting international arrivals in with no quarantine from November 1, we’ve got no time to waste — this virus is coming, it’s coming to Queensland and everyone needs to get vaccinated.

“We can’t talk about the plan forward and opening up if Queenslanders aren’t getting out and getting vaccinated in big numbers.

“No matter what we do, it will arrive, and every single one of us will get infected.”

Originally published as Infected truck driver enters Queensland but CHO Jeannette Young says ‘no risk to anyone at all’