‘Unknowns’ in QLD coronavirus scare caused NT to pull hot spot trigger quickly despite low case load

THE potential for a mass coronavirus outbreak in greater Brisbane pushed the NT to declare parts of QLD a hotspot despite the low number of cases so far

THE potential for a mass coronavirus outbreak in greater Brisbane, brought on by a trio who lied about being in Melbourne, pushed the NT to declare parts of Queensland a hotspot despite the low number of cases so far, Chief Minister Michael Gunner said.

Late on Friday afternoon NT’s chief health officer Hugh Heggie declared greater Brisbane, Ipswich and Logan hotspots, forcing all arrivals from those areas into mandatory supervised quarantine.

MOREON POLITICS

CLP calls on Labor to negotiate leaders’ debate, without Territory Alliance

Chief Minister Michael Gunner ‘confident’ Coalition bail out deal still on the cards

NT’s budget blowout could get worse due to ‘bold’ assumptions on where Australia will land

Chief Minister Michael Gunner speaks at a press conference at the Howard Springs Quarantine centre. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

Queensland has no new cases of coronavirus this week so far, with the state dealing with 12 active cases in total.

Mr Gunner said the decision was made by Dr Heggie on Friday because of the level of unknowns.

“There was a significant amount of testing outstanding on that Friday … what the impact from those eight or nine days where people were present in Brisbane with coronavirus,” he said.

“Those questions essentially are being answered right now and over that weekend.

“You can always wind back (restrictions but) it is very hard to catch up.”

Queensland has been dealt another coronavirus scare, after three men from Logan were charged for lying on border declaration forms.

Meanwhile, South Australia recorded two new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday linked to known clusters.

SA’s chief health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier described the day as “pivotal” as the “cases mount up”.

The state has already imposed harsher restrictions, including capping home gatherings at 10, down from 50, and patrons can only drink alcohol in licensed premises while seated.

But the SA government is considering even stricter conditions, including crackdowns on gyms, licensed venues and sports crowds.

LIMITED TIME: New NT News subscription offer: $1 a week for the first 12 weeks

Victoria, which has imposed a new range of lockdown measures harsher than Australia has experienced throughout the pandemic, recorded 439 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday. Eleven people died in that state, all of whom were in aged care.

There have been no new cases of coronavirus in the NT since Saturday, with three cases still active.

As at 8am on Tuesday 533 people were in forced quarantine.