Covid quarantine: Businesses call to scrap close contact rules entirely

Gold Coast businesses say the requirement for fully vaccinated close contacts to quarantine for seven days would still be ‘devastating’ for them.

A restaurateur has called for close contact rules to be scrapped altogether, saying businesses like his would not survive if staff were forced into quarantine.

Choofas Smokehouse & Seafood owner Scott Littler said it would be “devastating” if his staff were forced to quarantine for even a few days after being a close contact of a Covid case.

With staff shortages crippling the hospitality industry, he feared many would be in the same boat.

“We would have to shut the doors - it’s as simple as that,” Mr Littler said.

“At the end of the day, we have got to get back to some sort of normality.

“Let (Covid) run its course.”

Currumbin’s Lazarus Film lab’ co-owners Morgan Wagstaff and Blake Pace.

Lazarus Lab co-owner Morgan Wagstaff was forced to close her business and quarantine earlier this month after her business partner Blake Pace caught Covid.

“We’ve taken this hit but could not take another,” Ms Wagstaff said.

“At any time, Blake or myself could be deemed a close contact, at the grocery store, a friend or an extended family member at Christmas.

“This would result in us being in exactly the same position and our business having to close permanently due to the lack of funding despite the isolation (rules).”

Coolangatta Surf Club general manager Steve Edgar said he was confused about the Covid rules since borders reopened.

“There’s so much stuff going on, it’s hard to keep abreast of the changes,” he said.

“It is a bit of a worry like a lot of things at the moment.”

CoVid masks

‘Completely ridiculous’: Families still in isolation after school case - December 21

A mum whose entire family was forced into quarantine for a week after a positive case at a Coast school has called for an overhaul of close contact requirements, describing the system as “completely ridiculous”.

Broadbeach State School was closed on December 9 after one Covid-19 case was confirmed at the school, but no further cases were reported.

Lines at the Covid-19 testing clinic set up at Broadbeach State School.

The Bulletin understands 95 families linked to the school were forced into quarantine for at least a week.

A mother who has children attending the school said she was not due to be released from isolation until Tuesday or Wednesday, despite returning three negative tests.

“How will this be played out next year when a student tests positive in a school environment,” the mother, who asked not to be named, said.

“Will parts of the school, but not the whole school, continue to be shut down?

“Queensland Health told us how good this vaccine is and promoted the freedoms it would give when we reached a certain rate, yet they are still imposing restrictions and isolations on families without any real regard of the consequences.”

The mother said some families were struggling emotionally and financially.

She said they had not heard from the school since they were told of the positive case.

“It is completely ridiculous that we are still locked down after we received our third negative test result back,” the mother said.

Broadbeach State School.

A Department of Education spokesman said state schools had plans in place and were well prepared for any disruptions from Covid-19.

“Principals and their school teams have been planning for these scenarios for almost two years, and are ready to deliver programs that best meet the needs for their school communities,” he said.

“As they have done previously, schools will work with families to ensure students can access learning materials.”

A Queensland Health spokeswoman said: “All contact tracing locations are assessed on an individual basis by public health experts who work day in and day out to keep Queenslanders safe, and the health advice provided is appropriate to the level of risk determined.”

Thousands of Queenslanders are expected to be in quarantine in coming weeks as cases continue to rise, sparking calls for the state government to urgently review its stringent close contact requirements.

Infectious diseases expert Paul Griffin said the state’s Covid-19 response shouldn’t continue being managed like it was before the borders reopened as another 59 new cases were recorded on Monday.

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