Covid-19 Qld: Three new local cases as anti-vaxxer causes chaos at press conference
Authorities in Queensland are on high alert after three new local Covid-19 cases were announced, along with another two people now interstate.
Three new virus cases in the Queensland border town of Goondiwindi are being seen as an early harbinger of the coming Covid tide, with government pleading with residents to protect themselves for an inevitable surge.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday reported three new locally acquired cases in Queensland, all in Goondiwindi, with two being active in the community for several days.
All cases are understood to be linked to a cluster in nearby Moree. Two of the three infected women visited the northern NSW town and are known to the third. Two of the women were unvaccinated.
Deputy chief health officer Peter Aitken said all of the new cases were in hospital and would be transferred to a Covid facility, most likely on the Gold Coast.
A NSW woman and a Victorian truck driver have also tested positive interstate after being infectious in Goondiwindi.
Ms Palaszczuk said working in Goondiwindi’s favour was the town’s high vaccination rate.
The community, which has a significant Indigenous population, is more than 81.5 per cent fully vaccinated, well above the 65.3 per cent statewide average.
However, the wider rate in regional Queensland still remains a concern and Ms Palaszczuk also singled out Ipswich, Logan, Beaudesert and the Gold Coast in the state’s southeast corner.
“We really need to lift the Gold Coast because we know people be coming over the borders very shortly,” she said, referring to the December 17 reopening.
Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg on Wednesday night noted the increasing Covid cluster in the nearby NSW town of Moree and said he was on standby for further Queensland health advice on travel restrictions.
“As a border community, this is the very situation for which we have been so steadfastly preparing,” he said.
A number of new exposure sites were also listed for Goondiwindi on Wednesday after an infected truckie passed through the town at the weekend. He was at the town’s Kmart, Coles, and a BP truck stop over two hours from 10am to noon.
“The great irony is that we may never fully realise the success of our region’s vaccination rate, as we will only ever know the number of positive cases and not how many were prevented,” Mr Springborg said.
He said council had taken every opportunity to advocate to ensure that there was no disruption to the harvest, and council staff had been asked to limit their interactions with others.
Meanwhile, the look on the face of Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said it all as an anti-vaxxer gatecrashed her Covid press conference in North Queensland.
Ms D’Ath was 20 minutes into a live presser in Cairns when a woman in a floppy hat rolled up and started yelling at her.
The woman – who appeared to be filming the incident on her phone – interrupted Ms D’Ath and made a series of wild claims about the vaccine and its supposed effect on her friends.
She yelled that one friend was ‘dead within 14 hours’ of receiving the jab, and the daughter of another was ‘terminally ill’ and ‘in a wheelchair’ after receiving her second dose a couple of days ago.
“Why is this not being reported,” she yelled.
Ms D’Ath was composed and tried to calm the gatecrasher down: “So lady, I’m happy to talk to you but …”
“Excuse me! I have a voice, you’ve said enough!” the woman yelled.
“Explain why … (my friend) is dead now … and why the autopsy … they said they can’t show the data if you die from AstraZeneca”.
The press conference was then cut short.
“Well, aren’t you a nice lady!” the woman shouted after Ms D’Ath, who was in town to visit the Mossman Gorge pop-up vaccination hub and encourage people to get the jab.
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