Toowoomba contact tracing alerts to be scaled back due to Covid cases

Queensland Health have revealed why no contact tracing alerts have been issued for the Toowoomba region since Christmas Eve, despite a surge in cases.

AN OVERWHELMING amount of Covid exposure sites has forced Queensland Health contact tracers to focus their efforts on high-risk areas.

It’s one of the reasons health authorities haven’t updated the list of exposure sites in Toowoomba in almost a week.

The organisation announced they will be scaling back their reporting of contact tracing alerts as Covid-19 continues to run rampant through the rest of the country, including Toowoomba.

They will only be focusing on “high-risk” settings, like hospitals and aged care facilities.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman confirmed they were changing their approach to recording contact tracing alerts, in light of the spread of Omicron through the state.

“Going forward, we will be limiting the exposure sites we publish to venues of most concern, including settings where vulnerable people may be infected,” she said.

“Given the rapidly rising case numbers in all parts of the state, we are asking Queenslanders to assume they are at risk of developing COVID-19 no matter where they are and take precautions such as wearing a mask in public and maintaining physical distance from other people.”

Queensland recorded 1589 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, December 29.