Snap lockdown fears grow after new ‘mystery’ Qld Covid case
Our latest case of Covid-19 is so far unlinked to any of the state’s 13 known incursions of the virus, putting Queenslanders on edge about whether we’re about to once again go into lockdown, writes Janelle Miles.
Opinion
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Queensland’s latest mystery case of the Covid-19 virus puts the state on the cusp of another lockdown.
The infection in a 17-year-old girl who attends Indooroopilly State High School is so far unlinked to any of the state’s 13 known incursions of the pandemic virus in the past six weeks.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young will receive genomic sequencing later today to identify the variant involved and potentially, whether the case is connected to any of the recent clusters.
If Dr Young and her contact tracers can quickly link the teenager’s infection to a known outbreak, and determine how she may have caught the virus, Queensland may avoid another lockdown, particularly if she has the less contagious Alpha variant.
But if the schoolgirl has the much more infectious Delta variant, which has been spreading like wildfire in NSW, and the state’s disease detectives are unable to trace how she caught it, Queensland could face being locked down for a fourth time this year.
Dr Young has been quick and decisive in issuing directives on lockdowns during the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.
She will also be acutely aware the disastrous situation in NSW began in mid-June with the infection of a Sydney limousine driver, who caught the virus while transporting airline crew.
NSW was slow to lockdown.
That outbreak has since resulted in more than 3000 cases and 13 deaths in NSW, including a woman in her 30s with no chronic health conditions.
A NSW teenager with the virus and others in their 20s and 30s have become so ill, they’ve required intensive care. Covid is not just a serious illness in the elderly.
The NSW outbreak has spread across borders to South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
Given what has happened south of the Queensland border, Dr Young is not expected to take any risks with this latest case.
Already, the University of Southern Queensland’s Springfield campus has been closed because of a link with the 17-year-old high school student, as has Indooroopilly State High School and a community vaccination hub in Ipswich visited by the girl.
Queenslanders should prepare themselves for the possibility of another lockdown.
Originally published as Snap lockdown fears grow after new ‘mystery’ Qld Covid case
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