Gold Coast hospitality businesses given reprieve as Covid-19 contact tracing relaxed rules in Queensland

The state government has been “pulling back” on Covid-19 contact tracing, which will take pressure off Coast hospitality sector hit by a spate of forced closures.

The state government has been “pulling back” on Covid-19 contact tracing, which will take pressure off the Gold Coast hospitality sector hit by a spate of forced closures.

Coronavirus cases, largely the Omicron variant, have been spreading across the city and the rest of Queensland since borders reopened on Monday, December 13.

chief health officer Dr John Gerrard addresses the media during the COVID 19 press conference. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Venues have been forced to temporarily shut doors as staff were potentially exposed to the virus.

It prompted Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president Tim Martin to speak out, airing doubts venues would make it to New Year’s due to the stringent quarantine rules.

However, on Wednesday morning Queensland chief health officer Dr John Gerrard revealed

“broader contact tracing” was “gradually being pulled back” after changes were made to government policies on Christmas Eve.

“This should have had some positive impact on the hospitality sector, I had hoped,” he said.

“I saw some media this morning suggesting there was still some problems with staff in the hospitality sector. We were looking into that further today.

“In broad terms we are pulling back to isolating those who are sick, and their immediate household contacts.

“That is the main group that we are contacting.”

Tim Martin inside at Sin City. Picture: Jerad Williams

Dr Gerrard warned case numbers would rise “very rapidly” in Queensland, which had 1589 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to Wednesday.

Omicron is the “dominant” variant and is “milder”, but more contagious than Delta.

In Queensland, anyone who is deemed to be a close contact of a person diagnosed with the virus must quarantine for seven days. Casual contacts have to isolate until they receive a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Dr Gerrard said the “significant changes” were being relayed to authorities

The state government’s contract tracing policies were changed on Christmas Eve.

“We are moving forward with the pandemic. We cannot afford to quarantine the entire population of Queensland – we know that,” he said.

“It has always been the intention to slowly, carefully pull back all our public health measures.

“We know that there are large numbers of people in quarantine we cannot afford to allow the functioning of the state to seize up.

“We will not allow this to happen and that’s why we’re looking at these measures on a daily basis.”

He said the government was focusing on “those who are infected and their immediate household contacts”.

The tough quarantine rules were causing “mass closures” of hospitality venues across Queensland, according to Restaurant and Catering Association chief executive Wes Lambert.

For example, popular Currumbin bakery Fuel Bakehouse on Currumbin Creek Rd was forced to shut for several days in early December after two infected customers visited the venue.

Hospo veteran: ‘We won’t make New Year’s Eve’

December 24: A Gold Coast hospitality veteran doubts venues will make it to New Year’s due to quarantine rules for Covid-19 contacts, lambasting state government for reopening “with no plan”.

The dire forecast from Surfers Paradise Licensed Venues Association president Tim Martin comes as hospitality operators big and small continue to face extreme staffing shortages and forced closures because of the rules.

Waxy’s Irish Pub in Surfers Paradise was forced to shut earlier this week as staff awaited test results after a close contact visited the venue on Saturday night.

It has since reopened.

A spokeswoman for The Star Gold Coast said it had also struggled amid a hospitality staffing crisis.

“Like other hospitality businesses we are working hard to address serious staff shortages, including the lack of overseas students and other challenges associated with the Covid pandemic,” she said.

“We are well prepared for a range of scenarios that would require us to manage the available workforce resources at any given time.”

Mr Martin, general manager for nightclubs Sin City and The Bedroom and Artesian Hospitality stakeholder, said a lack of state government planning for the border reopening and its impact was staggering.

The number of staff being impacted by being close contacts of Covid cases and having to quarantine for seven days meant he doubted the city would “make it to New Year” with anything open.

“There are literally concerns about how we are going to operate as a functional society.

“Queensland opened its borders without a plan. They said go and get vaxxed, we’re opening the border. Everyone went out and got vaxxed. If they said go and get vaxxed, we’re opening up, well, we’re fine with that.

Picture: Jerad Williams

“But we’re not fine with opening the borders, and having cases and then saying we all have to quarantine. No one would have accepted that.

“Do you think anyone would have accepted them saying ‘we are going to open but if you get a case come through, we are going to lock you down and force quarantine on your staff for seven days’? No.”

Close contacts of cases are required to quarantine for seven days. The rules were wound back from 14 days earlier this week, which was welcomed by police bosses as cases impacted the ranks.

Mr Martin: “We’re all in the same boat. It looks like we are heading towards – whether we like it or not – a lockdown, because no services anywhere are going to be open.”

Covid Gold Coast: Full list coronavirus exposure sites

Asked how his venues’ staffing was holding up given the requirement to quarantine if a vaccinated close contact of a positive case, Mr Martin replied: “It’s becoming a concern. We have more people gradually becoming contacts or close contacts, around people with Covid, I think it’s about to explode.

“I don’t think we are going to make it to New Year’s Eve. And even if we do, no one will have enough staff for it.

“Why did we open the border if this was what was going to happen?

“The mismanagement on all sides is unbelievable.

“For them to be where they are right now with the police, the government have clearly not thought it through. They have taken out half the police force.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, on the Gold Coast on Thursday, said the road map had been very clear and state government was sticking to the road map.