In encouraging COVID news for Queensland, the state has recorded 13 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 with all but one isolating while infectious.
It’s more good news for residents in the southeast who are hoping authorities will lift an eight-day lockdown, as planned, at 4pm on Sunday.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was very encouraging that all of the new cases were linked to the current Indooroopilly cluster.
“Twelve were not infectious in the community, the 13th we’re just continuing to get details from,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Three are linked to a karate club that trains at Indooroopilly State High School, four are household contacts linked to cases at the high school, five are household contacts linked to Ironside State School, and one is a close contact associated with Brisbane Boys Grammar School.
There are now 102 cases linked to the Indooroopilly cluster.
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says more cases are likely and she won’t make a decision on lifting the lockdown until she’s seen Sunday’s figures.
Ideally, any new cases reported on Sunday will be linked to known infections and will have been in isolation during their infectious periods.
Dr Young will also be looking for a continuing of high testing rates, so she can have confidence there are no undetected lines of transmission.
“This outbreak has only been going for a short period. There could still be cases and it’s very important to keep testing going,” she said.
Dr Young made a special appeal for anyone who is unwell in Cairns to get tested, after a marine pilot with the Delta variant was active in the community.
“I needed to continue that for a few more days. We need to check what is going on in Cairns.”
There was some positive news for the regional city of Rockhampton, with close contacts of an infected woman who travelled there for work returning negative results five days into their quarantine period.
“Anyone in Rockhampton with symptoms must come forward and get tested but that’s looking a lot more reassuring,” Dr Young said.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath praised Queenslanders for doing their part to contain the outbreak but took aim at travellers who are continuing to defy the border closure and enter the state from southern hotspots.
Two paramedics are currently in isolation after having contact with people who’d arrived illegally from interstate.
Police have also expressed exasperation after arresting two people at Noosaville, on the Sunshine Coast, who refused to use the check-in app, refused to put on masks, and then resisted arrest.
Two other people have been fined for leaving Brisbane to attend a party in Mackay and police are still hunting for a woman who fled hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast.
“She does not want to be caught. Unfortunately in policing we deal with these fugitive situations a lot,” Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.
Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will be released from hotel quarantine on Sunday following her trip to Tokyo where Queensland was formally named the host of the 2032 Olympics.
“She will come straight to work and she is looking forward to being here with us for the press conference tomorrow,” Mr Miles said.
There are more than 10,000 people currently in home quarantine in Queensland.
There were 40,835 tests carried out in Queensland in the 24 hours to 6am.
AAP
