Covid Qld: Silent cluster threat as Queenslanders may not know they’re infected

A silent Covid-19 cluster could be ripping across Queensland, with authorities warning people they could be infected without knowing.

A silent Covid-19 cluster could be ripping across Queensland, with authorities warning people they could be infected without showing any symptoms.

The number of Covid-19 cases continues to climb with 31 recorded on Saturday.

There are 12 Omicron cases as the state edges closer to the 90 per cent first-dose vaccination rate.

Cases have been recorded in a growing number of locations across Queensland as authorities urge people to be vigilant and assume “that Covid is everywhere”.

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard said the virus was spreading rapidly across the state and declared some people may not even know they have it.

“What we are seeing with the Omicron strain in vaccinated people we are seeing that sometimes they have, or often they have, no symptoms,” he said.

“If you are vaccinated – and I know that almost 90 per cent of you are – you may well not be aware that you are carrying the virus.

“That’s another reason why those few remaining people who haven’t been vaccinated need to get vaccinated now.”

Queensland Chief Health Officer John Gerrard providing a Covid update at The Collective Store in Wynnum. Picture: Richard Walker

New South Wales recorded 2482 cases and on Saturday including an outbreak at Byron Bay, which Dr Gerrard said “changes nothing at all” for Queensland’s reopening.

“We are expecting to see 1000s of cases in New South Wales and across Australia, and ultimately, Queensland,” he said. “We have no plans, no intentions of closing borders.”

Since Queensland’s border opened on Monday 136,948 general border applications had been received and almost 1000 international applications.

Queensland Police Service Commissioner Katarina Carroll on Saturday said 101 people who arrived into Queensland from a hotspot in the previous 24 hours were isolated.

“Some of those are just not getting their PCR test results in time so they go into quarantine until those results come in,” she said.

Unvaccinated people are also now barred from visiting restaurants, cafes, pubs and many government-run facilities under the state’s new mandate.

Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll finishes her Christmas shopping at The Collective Store in Wynnum. Picture: Richard Walker

Ms Carroll said she was “extraordinarily pleased” with the high level of compliance for the new vaccine mandate measures which were introduced on Friday.

Ms Carroll said there were 36 calls for assistance from businesses on the first day of the vaccination mandate and several incidents of people abusing staff – including one “quite belligerent” person trying to visit a hospital’s ICU unit.

On the border police intercepted 36,941 vehicles, turning 239 around, in the 24 hours to Saturday. There were 6993 passengers who arrived in Queensland subjected to compliance checks, with 12 refused entry.

An estimated 10,000 people descended on Brisbane’s Musgrave Park on Saturday afternoon to protest the state’s vaccine mandate. The new rules, which lock out unvaccinated people from pubs and clubs, have been welcomed by most Queenslanders with the state nearly 84 per cent fully vaccinated.

Protesters, who compared mass vaccinations to apartheid, the Holocaust and World War I, were heckled as they walked from Musgrave Park in South Brisbane and through West End. Some passionate locals began yelling at them, proclaiming that “fascists and anti-semites had taken over West End’s streets”.

The crowd repeatedly drew comparisons between the Queensland Government’s vaccine mandate and apartheid.

“What’s the difference between a yellow star (referring to the identifier placed on Jews before the Holocaust) and a Covid passport? 82 years!” one sign read.

“We’re not conspiracy theorists, we are the resistance,” another sign read.

A young woman screamed at the anti-Vax protesters, telling them to “f--k off.”

A woman from the large crowd screamed back “Take us on, see what happens.”

Other protesters began targeting the police screaming “Are you guys with us or what?”

“Have you guys got kids? I bet you don’t, you gutless cowards,” another yelled.

The People’s Revolution website claimed the purpose of the event was to “unite for the right to party.”

Originally published as Covid Qld: Silent cluster threat as Queenslanders may not know they’re infected