Covid Toowoomba: Hundreds of Darling Downs children get jab in as region aims at 95 per cent vaccination rate

In a boost for the region’s vaccination rates, hundreds of Darling Downs children have now gotten their first jab against Covid-19. Health authorities have also revealed why testing wait times could be much lower from now on.

Michelle Forrest, Darling Downs Health Covid-19 response leader. Picture: Nev Madsen.

THUR, JAN 13:

Hundreds of children aged between five and 11 across the Darling Downs have now been vaccinated against Covid-19, in a response that has overwhelmed some pharmacies and GPs.

Well over 400 kids have received their first jabs since Monday at Toowoomba’s walk-in vaccination clinic at Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre.

Darling Downs Health’s Covid-19 response lead Michelle Forrest said she had been buoyed by the response from parents wanting to protect their children ahead of the new school year.

“This week, 5 to 11-year-olds can now get their vaccinations and we’re encouraging people to come in and bring their children to get vaccinated,” she said on Thursday.

“We’re also rolling out some rural sites where we’ll be doing five to 11-year-olds.

“This will help protect their loved ones and reduce the spread when they get back to school.

“There’s been a huge demand for children vaccinations, I understand our pharmacies and GPs have been strained with stock, which is why some people have come to our clinic.”

The Toowoomba region’s second-dose vaccination rate sat at 92.5 per cent as of January 9.

Ms Forrest urged residents to continue getting vaccinated, including those who were due for a third jab.

“We know that we have Covid in every community, we have Covid here,” she said.

“For those people who are due for their boosters, I’d really encourage them to come in, because your immunity is starting to wane.

Ms Forrest said while demand for testing remained high, the health body’s expansion of Baillie Henderson Hospital had reduced wait times to less than an hour on average.

“We had some infrastructure upgrades at our Baillie Henderson testing facility,” she said.

“It’s allowed us to move people through much quicker.

“At the moment, we’re getting people through in less than an hour and that’s with our ability to do both PCR and RAT testing at Baillie Henderson.

“The availability of RATs will make a big difference and that’s certainly allowed us to be quicker through our sites,” she said.

“We’ll also be able to see RATs on shelves in the coming weeks.”

WED, JAN 5: A pair of neighbouring Toowoomba nursing homes has been heavily restricted from visitors after four staff members tested positive for Covid-19.

The Nubeena Retirement Village and the Toowoomba Aged Care Service on Ruthven Street in Kearneys Spring, which are both owned and run by the Churches of Christ Queensland, were barred from visitors earlier this week.

A spokeswoman for COCQ confirmed four staff members had tested positive, with one expected to return to work soon.

No residents have tested positive as of Wednesday.

The two centres will exit the restrictions on Friday and Saturday respectively, assuming no further cases are detected.

It comes as the Covid-19 outbreak at the Tabeel aged care facility in Laidley grew to 45 after another two cases were confirmed.

The centre remains in lockdown as part of its outbreak management plan.

A statement from the centre’s operator Lutheran Services said all residents were in high spirits and passing the time with socially-distanced games like hallway bingo and magnetic darts.

“We have a total of 18 positive residents and 27 positive staff,” the statement said.

“All positive staff and residents are currently doing well.

“We are very grateful for the support from local businesses for helping to keep our residents entertained and engaged.

“Staff and residents are in good spirits and while our residents are in isolation in their rooms, there is still some hallway bingo, magnetic darts and in-room singalongs taking place.

“To date, we are seeing a very low rate of serious illness as a result of Covid-19.”

An overnight surge in new local Covid-19 cases has been reported by Queensland Health, with an additional 80 people testing positive to the virus.

The region now has 245 active cases, as the state’s chief health officer warns Queensland is set for hundreds of thousands of infected people within weeks.

Todd Rohl of Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce. Picture: Kevin Farmer

TUES, JAN 4: Toowoomba businesses are bracing for lower customers and patrons in the coming weeks, as fears over the Omicron strain and the scaling back of contact tracing drive people away.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Rohl said several small operators had some of their quietest trading weeks of the year in the lead-up to Christmas — a period that is normally their busiest of the year.

“A lot of businesses had some of their worst weeks of the year, which is very troubling,” he said.

“In my view, people will be very careful about going to businesses.

“It’s going to be a wait-and-see thing, but I do suspect there will be some downturn.

“The challenge is always the fear and the concern about the superspreading.”

Mr Rohl urged residents to still support small businesses in person or via online methods.

“We know it’s scary for some people, but we encourage them to go out even if it’s a takeaway meal,” he said.

“Prior to Christmas, a lot of businesses went back to takeaway coffee at the front door.”

Monday, January 3 — 4pm:

Darling Downs Health has confirmed Toowoomba Hospital is now treating nine Covid-19 positive patients.

A spokeswoman said some of the patients had been admitted for infection control purposes only because they had nowhere safe to isolate within the community.

The hospital’s intake also includes two from the Cherbourg cluster, which grew to 90 as of Monday.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said one of those patients was in intensive care but not on a ventilator.

A DDH spokeswoman confirmed staff members had tested positive for Covid-19, while no specific information could be provided.

“We are managing several staff across DDH who have tested positive to Covid-19, with no impact to services,” the spokeswoman said.

“These staff are being managed in-line with the managing healthcare personnel with SARS-CoV2 infection or exposure to SARS-CoV2 framework.

“This approach supports safe decision making when determining whether to place work permissions or restrictions on a worker in a health care setting, after a Covid-19 exposure or a positive case of Covid-19, with consideration to a number of factors relevant to the healthcare setting,” the spokeswoman said.

Queensland has recorded 4249 new Covid cases while a man aged in his late 30s has died suddenly in his home.

Meanwhile, Dr Gerrard has warned all Queenslanders would be exposed to Covid within weeks.

Wednesday, December 28 – 9.30am:

Darling Downs Health has announced almost 100 residents are currently in quarantine, as we head into the new year.

There are currently 94 active quarantine notices throughout the region, accumulating to almost 4,000 local notices delivered since the pandemic began.

There are currently 62 active cases of Covid-19 within the Darling Downs.

Thursday, December 23 – 2pm:

New cases of Covid-19 have been uncovered on the Darling Downs as testing continues at a rapid rate, and the push for vaccinations continues.

Chief health officer Doctor John Gerrard confirmed new cases were located in Toowoomba and the Southern Downs, however the exact location of those cases could not be confirmed by Darling Downs Health.

More exposure sites have emerged as health authorities trace down the sources of the cases.

A coffee shop and a pharmacy are among those sites.

In the daily press conference on Thursday morning, Dr Gerrard confirmed new cases had been detected in the region.

He pleaded with the community to continue being vaccinated against the virus.

“It is important at times like this as the numbers increase that we reflect on what we are trying to do and where we are going,” Dr Gerrard told reporters.

“Not only is the spread of this virus inevitable, it is necessary.

“In order for us to go from the pandemic phase to the endemic phase, the virus has to be widespread.

“You will all have to develop immunity, and there’s two ways we can do that — by being vaccinated or by being infected.”

The other cases are located in the Banana Shire, Brisbane, Bundaberg, Cairns, Central Queensland, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Logan, Maranoa, Mareeba, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redland, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and the Whitsundays.

See the full list of exposure sites here.

Wednesday, December 22 – 1.30pm:

It’s been relatively unscathed throughout the pandemic, but as the threat of Covid-19 continues to grow, the Darling Downs region is no longer out of woods.

Queensland Health yesterday confirmed two new cases of Covid-19 in the Darling Downs, bringing the total to five.

Overnight, the number of quarantine notices issued to the people in the region has also grown significantly, increasing from 59 to 102 notices.

No new exposure sites have been added for the Darling Downs region, as of Wednesday afternoon.

A spokeswoman from Darling Downs Health said she was unable to provide any additional information than what had been discussed in the state’s morning press conference.

“In line with what was provided yesterday, we are unable to provide further information about cases, beyond the number on (the) website,” the spokeswoman said.

On Tuesday, a Darling Downs Health spokeswoman said the important information to convey, from a public health perspective, was the exposure sites visited by people who had tested positive for Covid-19, rather than details of specific cases.

“Covid-19 cases numbers in Queensland are continuing to rise, now that our domestic borders are open to travellers from hot spots,” the spokeswoman said.

“Given the rising number of cases, we’re unable to continue to provide detailed information on individual cases, beyond what may be provided at the daily press conference.

“To seek to do so would pull our contact tracers off the important public health work they are doing identifying exposure venues.”

As of Thursday morning, Queenslanders will also be required to follow new measures, with masks required for cinemas and theatres, as well as staff members at hospitality venues.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the extra measures were to help keep Queenslanders safe and businesses open.

Meanwhile, the state recorded its highest number with a 24-hour period so far, with 186 new cases recorded in Queensland, overnight.

The total number of active cases in Queensland currently sits at 2613.

Chief health officer John Gerrard said it appeared the vaccines had been working effectively.

“The more we learn, the more we are assured the vaccines are effective in limiting severe disease,” he said.

“We know vaccinated people can have very mild illness, they can be in the community and not know they have the virus.”

The Chronicle has asked Darling Downs Health whether or not the region’s confirmed cases are part of the Omicron variant, but this has not been confirmed.

For more information, visit the Queensland Health website.

Wednesday – 10.30am: Queensland Health has confirmed more cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Darling Downs region.

Two new cases have been recorded, bringing the region’s total to five.

New mask measures will apply to the state as of Thursday.

Starting from 5am Thursday, masks will be mandatory in patrons and staff members of cinemas and theatres, as well as for staff in hospitality venues.

It comes after the state recorded 186 new cases of Covid-19, which is the largest single day number for Queensland to date.

Tuesday, December 21 – 11am: Queensland Health has revealed the quarantine rules will now be changed for fully vaccinated close contacts.

Initially, the quarantine period for close contacts across the state was set to 14 days, but this rule will now only apply to unvaccinated people.

From Wednesday, close contacts who are fully vaccinated will only be required to quarantine for seven days.

It comes after the state recorded its highest daily number of Covid cases so far.

Queensland recorded 86 new cases overnight, 79 of which were locally acquired, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to 269.

To date, 61 cases have been confirmed as the Omicron variant.

Tuesday, 8.30am: While the current number of Covid cases in the region hasn’t changed, Darling Downs Health has confirmed the number of people who are currently expected to spend Christmas Day in quarantine.

At present, 59 people in the Darling Downs have been issued a quarantine notice, that requires them to isolate themselves from the public for 14 days.

Of the active Covid cases statewide, there remains to be only three cases that have been detected in the Darling Downs region.

Although Queensland Health will now be reporting new cases in a different way, the total number of cases will continue to be broken down to hospital and health service regions.

“Covid-19 case numbers in Queensland are continuing to rise, now that our domestic borders are open to travellers from hot spots … given the rising number of cases, we’re unable to continue to provide detailed information on individual cases, beyond what may be provided at the daily press conference,” a Queensland Health spokesperson said.

“To seek to do so would pull our contact tracers off the important public health work they are doing identifying exposure venues.

“Any heightened or unique risks to the community will be communicated through press conferences, social media updates from Queensland Health and individual Hospital and Health Services, and through public health alerts.

“The important information to convey – from a public health perspective – rather than the details of a particular case, are exposure sites visited by Covid-19 positive persons, and listed on the Queensland Health website.”

The testing sites will remain open at Baillie Henderson Hospital and the Toowoomba Showgrounds today, between 8.30am and 4pm.

Darling Downs Health acting executive lead for the Health Emergency Operations Centre Michelle Forrest said while she expected the Showgrounds site was likely to have less of a wait, teams were communicating between both sites and people are being directed to keep the wait times as even as possible.

“People just need to be patient – we’re trying to keep those lines flowing as quickly as possible,” she said.

“We’re aware it’s hot and we’re aware that the waits are there, so if people can come prepared … bring water, bring your phone charger, bring some snacks in the car, that would be great.”

Members of the public are encouraged to continue monitoring exposure sites and symptoms and to get tested at the sites at Baillie Henderson Hospital and the Toowoomba Showgrounds.

Monday, December 20 – 3pm: Authorities are in the process of tracking an “Omicron cluster of concern” involving almost 3000 people.

Queensland Health revealed three cases in the Toowoomba region over the weekend and despite 59 new cases reported statewide on Monday, no new cases have been detected in Toowoomba.

When asked how many cases were currently in the region and if any more local cases had been detected, Darling Downs Health acting executive lead for the Health Emergency Operations Centre Michelle Forrest said “nothing more” could be added than what had already been announced by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday morning.

Darling Downs Health was unable to provide further clarification on how the cases had been spread to Toowoomba.

“We don’t have that level of detail at the moment … we know the cases that have been reported are linked to events that have happened in Brisbane,” Ms Forrest said.

More than 600 people attended the Darling Downs Health testing sites at Baillie Henderson Hospital and the Toowoomba Showgrounds on Sunday.

Both sites will remain open on Tuesday between 8.30am and 4pm.

As of Monday afternoon at 4pm, Queensland had confirmed 59 new cases, 49 locally acquired and 16 linked to a known case while 33 cases were under investigation.

The local cases were detected in Toowoomba, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Townsville.

Nine cases were interstate acquired and one was overseas acquired.

Stay up to date by visiting the Queensland Health website.

Sunday 2.30pm

Darling Downs Health has opened up an additional drive-through testing site in Toowoomba after the Baillie Henderson Hospital site has reached its capacity.

The additional site will open on Sunday until 4pm at the Toowoomba Showgrounds.

Drivers are asked to enter the showgrounds and follow the signs to the Founders Pavilion area.

Sunday 11am

Two new active cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Darling Downs region, by Queensland Health.

Both cases are currently in quarantine.

A spokeswoman from Darling Downs Health said “no further information (could) be provided regarding specific patient information.”

More than 550 Covid tests were conducted across the Darling Downs region on Saturday at Darling Downs Health testing sites.

This includes 344 tests at the Baillie Henderson Hospital.

The team at the Baillie Henderson Hospital had conducted 110 tests within the first hour and a half of opening on Sunday morning and at 9am, Darling Downs Health advised the public of a four-hour wait time.

An updated list of the region’s exposure sites can be found here.

Queensland Health encourages anyone who is considered to be a close, casual or low-risk contact to get tested immediately.

For more information, please visit qld.gov.au.

Earlier

A Toowoomba Hospital staff member has tested positive for Covid-19.

Queensland Health released a list of exposure sites on Friday night, which included Guzman Y Gomez at Grand Central Shopping Centre and The Coffee Club across the road.

Guzman Y Gomez is open and trading as normal, while The Coffee Club was closed on Saturday and reopened on Sunday.

On Saturday night, Queensland Health updated the list to include two Toowoomba businesses as casual contact exposure sites.

These sites included The Empire Theatre between midday and 4pm on Wednesday, December 15 and Drakes Supermarket on the intersection of High St and Meibusch St, in Rangeville between 11.30am and 11.40am on Monday, December 13.

Darling Downs Health acting executive lead for the Health Emergency Operations Centre Michelle Forrest said it had been determined that the Toowoomba Hospital staff member was asymptomatic when they worked on the Harbison maternity unit this week.

“Our Public Health Unit has identified several staff, patients and visitors to this unit as close and casual contacts,” she said.

“Currently, as required by the chief health officer, close contacts are required to be tested and quarantine for 14 days … casual contacts are required to be tested and isolate until they receive a negative result.”

Ms Forrest said while birthing services at the hospital had not been impacted, capacity has been reduced on its maternity inpatient ward, due to some workers being considered close contacts.

Staff members who have been considered as close contacts will now complete 14 days of quarantine, as directed.

“We will continue to work with mothers and their families in our care to ensure they receive support they need,” Ms Forrest said.

Darling Downs Health confirmed on Saturday morning that the Toowoomba Hospital worker is a Brisbane resident but attended Toowoomba Hospital for work.

“We responded rapidly when we were notified of a staff member of Toowoomba Hospital who has returned a positive COVID-19 test,” Ms Forrest said.

“This staff member is double vaccinated and was asymptomatic while at work.”

Ms Forrest said the community could be assured that their safety remains a priority.

“Our response is in-line with procedures to manage instances where staff test positive – we are now ramping up our COVID-19 testing of staff and some patients who are considered close and casual contacts,” she said.

“Our Public Health Unit is working hard to ensure the continued safety of our staff and patients.

“If you are a patient of the hospital, please contact your treating team if you have concerns.”

Anyone with symptoms, regardless of the severity, are encouraged to get tested.

Statewide the Covid outbreak has continued to rise with 31 cases recorded over night.

chief health officer Dr John Gerrard said the public had to expect ‘Covid is everywhere’ and the increase in numbers would continue.

“In the coming weeks we are going to see very large numbers of Covid-19 in the community,” he said.

“We must assume that Covid is everywhere – it is expected, it is inevitable, and it is necessary.”

Health venues affected include the North West Private Hospital, Toowoomba and PA hospitals, Blue Care in Mackay and a GP in Brisbane.