QLD lockdown bites Gympie, sports left with biggest losses

Life on the literal edge of a lockdown is biting the Gympie region with sports cancellations, mask rules and lengthy lines for Covid tests.

Life on the literal edge of a lockdown is biting in parts of the Gympie region, with sports cancellations, mask rules and lengthy lines for Covid tests.

Though it was nothing compared to the bedlam in Brisbane on Monday, drivers looking to be tested at the Gympie Hospital drive through fever clinic were faced with queues down King St and around the corner on to Jane St, with one social media commenter in line saying the wait was more than an hour.

The line-up followed pleas from State Government Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young for more tests as the southeast corner extended the the shutdown due to an escalating outbreak of the Delta strain of the coronavirus.

The strict lockdown came into force Saturday afternoon and will now remain in place until Sunday afternoon.

Gympie Netball president Colleen Miller said community sport was “the big loser” from the shutdown.

The club had been forced to cancel a weekend tournament and the normal Monday night games for this week and now had little to do but wait with crossed fingers and see what happens.

Drivers queued around the corner of the Gympie Hospital as they waited to be tested for Covid.

“A lot of our members were in Brisbane or on the Sunny Coast on the morning of the lockdown,” Mrs Miller said.

“It’s a big chunk of our competition.”

The decision to halt games was for the club’s own peace of mind.

“It’s too hard on us relying on people doing the right thing,” she said.

There was still one week’s wriggle room to reclaim this week’s lost games but, if the shutdown is extended, then Mrs Miller said games would unfortunately begin to be permanently lost.

Gympie Devils rugby league has felt the impact too.

Gympie Netball president Colleen Miller said a “chunk” of the club’s membership were caught in the lockdown, forcing them to cancel a tournament and games.

Saturday’s home game against the Nambour Crushers was cancelled due to the lockdown, with Nambour forced to forfeit.

The Cats home game at Ray Warren Oval was also cancelled on Saturday afternoon, and will likely be cancelled this weekend.

Schools, including Federal State School, which sits inside the Noosa council boundary, remain open.

The State Government has said any students who visited one of the locked down areas after 1am Saturday and returned to Gympie “are to lockdown … unless they are the children of parents who are considered essential workers and can attend school”.

They do not need to wear masks.

High school children in the same boat do need to wear masks.

A statement on social media from Polleys Coaches said all Cooroy services remained operating “as normal” this week, although the mask rules are in force “until further notice”.

The Mary Valley rattler was forced to cancel this week’s services.

The Mary Valley Rattler has been forced to cancel all services this week, including its 140th anniversary run.

General manager Micheal Green said the call was made for safety.

“Whilst we are not in the LGA’s determined by the Queensland Government, we have made the call to cancel our services as the safety of our guests is our top priority,” Mr Green said.

It had been forced to cut this past weekend’s services as “our scheduled volunteer train crew are unavailable”.

There has been almost 900 vaccine shots delivered in the first week of the Civic Centre hub’s operation.

Out in the Mary Valley itself, which is close to the locked down areas, the Kandanga Hotel announced it would only be serving customers “from our local government area who are not in lockdown”.

The Kandanga Farm Store was also forced to shut on the weekend as some staff lived in locked down areas.

The Kenilworth Hotel has also closed except for takeaway meals “until further notice”.

Vaccination efforts in the region have picked up pace, with the opening of the new State Government-run Civic Centre hub.

There were 819 shots delivered in the centre’s first week, well above the 528 already recorded at Gympie Hospital since the vaccines became available.

It is unknown how many doses of the vaccines have been delivered by GP clinics and pharmacies across the region.

Originally published as QLD lockdown bites Gympie, sports left with biggest losses