Qld Covid-19 lockdown update: Two new local cases confirmed

Queensland has recorded four new cases of Covid-19, in results described as encouraging by the Premier and Chief Health Officer. But with five Covid outbreaks across the state, authorities remain on high alert.

Queensland has recorded four new cases of coronavirus, two as a result of community transmission and two acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.

The results were described as encouraging by Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young and Annastacia Palaszczuk, with the Premier confirming a decision on the current lockdown would be made tomorrow.

“Fingers crossed that we will have low numbers tomorrow and we’ll be able to lift the lockdown,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

But despite the optimism, Dr Young warned that health authorities were now dealing with five Covid-19 outbreaks in Queensland, with thousands of related close contacts.

In a wide-ranging media conference, it was also revealed an infectious diseases expert would investigate the Prince Charles Hospital Covid breach, Ms Palaszczuk addressed her likely travel to the Tokyo Olympics and Dr Young was asked about her strong comments on the AstraZeneca vaccination.

Today’s two local cases include a close contact to the Portuguese restaurant cluster, who was already in quarantine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk watches Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young during a Covid update on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The second is a 37-year-old woman who works at the Qatar check-in at Brisbane’s international airport, who is likely to have acquired it at the international airport after interaction with flight crews. The variant is not known.

“We’re speaking to her at the moment to get all of her contact tracing achieved,” Dr Young said.

The woman became symptomatic on June 27, when she visited Coles at Murrumba Downs.

She was at Officeworks at North Lakes two days earlier and regularly attended Anytime Fitness in Griffin, with authorities still working through dates and times.

The state now has 43 active cases.

Queenslanders came out in force to get tested, with a near record 29,990 tests conducted yesterday.

More than 2.9 million tests have now been conducted in Queensland since the beginning of the pandemic, on 1.8 million people.

There were three locally acquired cases on Wednesday, all linked to existing cases, including one that stemmed from Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital.

A fourth case was acquired overseas and detected in hotel quarantine.

Dr Young said 1.6 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in Queensland, and encouraged anyone 60 years or older to go and get the AstraZeneca jab.

She said anyone aged 40 through to 59 should be booking into a clinic to get Pfizer and again said there was a risk for people aged under 40 to die from rare blood clots with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“The younger you are, the greater the risk,” she said.

“I’m giving my advice, I’m a doctor. I’ve been involved in Australia’s vaccination program now for 16 years.

“I want the right vaccine to go to the right person.”

Dr Young said she had given Queenslanders the best advice she could possibly give them for the past 18 months of the pandemic.

She denied she went too far in her criticism of the Prime Minister’s call for people to talk with their GPs about getting AstraZeneca vaccine.

“I just put out the facts,” she said. “All vaccination should be an individual discussion with your GP.”

Dr Young said continued questions on the matter were “absolutely silly”: “I have put my advice out there very very clearly.”

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young speaks during a media conference on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said there was a growing trend for an increased number of foreign nationals being permitted to travel to Australia and that it came at a great cost.

“When Australians think about national travel, when the borders are closed ... they think about Australians coming home,” Mr Miles said.

“They don’t think about people coming and going for their regular business ... and have been utilising hotel quarantine on multiple occasions.

“The Covid risk is borne by Queenslanders.”

Mr Miles said police were rushing to expand hotel quarantine capacity because of the number of overseas travellers due to arrive today.

Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said some testing centres would be expanded and urged Queenslanders to be patient in long lines.

“We know in some areas, particularly Townsville ... there have been long lines,” Ms D’Ath.

As questions continue over the transmission of Covid-19 to a worker at Prince Charles Hospital, Ms D’Ath said infectious disease physician Paul Griffin had been appointed to lead an investigation into why the young woman was not vaccinated.

The casual receptionist, who has tested positive for the Delta variant, worked outside a hospital Covid ward.

She caught the virus from a patient who was cared for in that ward.

Dr Young said it was too early to say whether the woman had spread the Delta variant of the virus, apart from to her brother.

“It’s too early to be confident we won’t get more cases,” she said.

Dr Young said there were now five Covid-19 incidents Queensland Health was managing.

“Five incidents simultaneously is a lot to manage,” she said.

Ms D’Ath said the state’s five hospitals where Covid patients are treated will be asked why authorities shouldn’t expand the mandatory vaccination group to be the entire hospital staff.

Ms D’Ath said health workers across the country are not mandated to get the jab, and called for a broader definition of Phase 1A workers, to include laundry, kitchen and pathology staff.

Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said police were seeing “very good compliance” from the community during the lockdown, with a few exceptions.

He said he was disappointed with seeing people lying on beaches to get a suntan during the lockdown.

Dr Young yesterday described the highly contagious Delta variant, which is dominant in Queensland’s active cases, as “virtually impossible to control”.

Her comments came during a fiery media conference in which the State Government went on the attack over quarantine facilities, repeat travellers in and out of Australia, vaccine supply and Federal Government advice over the AstraZeneca vaccination.

Questioned on Thursday over political bickering, Ms Palaszczuk said there had been a “misrepresentation of something that did not happen at National Cabinet”.

She also took aim at journalists who questioned whether the Health Minister’s vaccination supply concerns was a “stunt”.

“I’m not going to answer people who are being rude,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk also denied she was misrepresenting United Kingdom advice around the AstraZeneca vaccine for young people.

She said she would not travel to Tokyo for the Olympics if Queensland was still dealing with ongoing outbreaks of Covid-19.

“If I attend I will come back and do 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine,” she said.

“People leaving Australia should be vaccinated and people coming into Australia should be vaccinated.”

Originally published as Qld Covid-19 lockdown update: Two new local cases confirmed