Gladys Berejiklian says Annastacia Palaszczuk ‘illogical’ over shut borders

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called the refusal of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to open the state’s borders as ‘illogical’.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has labelled Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s demand to source new transmissions of Covid within 24 hours as ‘illogical’. Picture: AAP

A burgeoning cluster of COVID-19 cases is forming around southwestern Sydney, with five new infections linked to a social gathering of a Liverpool Hospital healthcare worker.

There are three other cases linked to one another, although their source remains unidentified.

The emergence of new infections in Sydney after more than a week of no community transmissions has restarted the acrimon­ious debate about the opening of the Queensland border.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian stepped up her criticism of her Queensland counterpart, ­Annastacia Palaszczuk, labelling her demand that sources of new transmissions be found within 24 hours as “illogical”.

“I don’t know where they got that from,” Ms Berejiklian said on Thursday. “Does that mean every time there’s a community transmission with an unknown source anywhere in the country that you’re just going to shut your ­border down again? I just think the Queensland government is really just thinking up every excuse­ it can as it goes along and I don’t think that’s ­acceptable.”

 

But only one of those cases is still of concern to Queensland authorities, with NSW contact tracers racing to link it to a ­previously known cluster, sources with knowledge of discussions told The Australian on Thursday.

“I’m hoping, and they’ve got great contact tracing, and I do hope they get on top it, they have before and I ­expect they’ll do it this time,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “Fingers crossed.”

The Queensland Premier said the requirement for 28 days without community spread, and 48 hours to track an unlinked case, had been agreed to by the national health council.

She conceded that she had not spoken to Ms Berejiklian for “two or three weeks” but insisted the pair had a good working relationship, and said the two states’ chief health ­officers spoke daily.

But NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard was also highly critical of the Queensland government, saying he was routinely advised of people “in some very sad situations” who were unable to enter the state on compassionate grounds.

“I’m over it, and I’ve got to say, I think Premier Palaszczuk is being political,” Mr Hazzard said. “She is being cruel. It’s time that this pettiness is put aside and we move forward.”

Liverpool Hospital, where the latest infections are linked to, had an outbreak in its dialysis unit last month. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the Liverpool healthcare worker, aged in her 30s, hosted a social event at her home while she was asymp­tomatic for the virus, leading to infections among two of her household contacts — a man in his 80s and a woman in her 60s — along with two others present.  A tentative link also appeared to exist between this cluster and the remaining three cases, said Dr Chant, one of which had been traced to a private health clinic.

She said a female guest at the gathering held by the Liverpool Hospital worker had sub­se­quently attended the clinic. “We are obviously investigating whether they’re linked.”

NSW Health has alerted attendees­ of a Fitness First Carlingford pilates class on October 3 and the Ripples restaurant in Milsons Point that same day to be tested and to self-quarantine.

People with COVID-19 also visited a number of other locations in the past week, including Mazda Artarmon, the Guzman y Gomez and HomeCo in Penrith, and Parra­matta Westfield.

If NSW has 28 days of no community transmission by October 22, the Queensland governme­nt is expected to reopen the borders on November 1, no matter what happens in NSW after that.

Additional reporting: Sarah Elks