Queensland records five new Covid cases but will NOT go into lockdown – as Annastacia Palaszczuk warns the next 24 hours are critical and thanks the mother of a 13-year-old girl at the centre of worrying new cluster for her quick thinking
- Queensland avoided lockdown after state recorded five new cases on Saturday
- All cases are part of same family across two households including a 13-year-old
- Annastacia Palaszczuk said virus had been contained and no need for lockdown
Queensland has avoided a lockdown after the state recorded five new cases overnight but Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned the next 24 hours are critical.
The cases are all part of the same family across two households, including a 13-year-old schoolgirl and a university employee.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the premier said the virus had been contained and there was no need to introduce stay-at-home orders.
‘I know there’s a lot of concern amongst the community about is there a lockdown today?’ she said.
‘There is no lockdown today but in the next 24 to 48 hours we’ll be closely monitoring the situation and if we start seeing any seeding, then we may have to take very quick, fast action. But at the moment, it’s contained to the family.’
Queensland has avoided a lockdown after the state recorded five new cases but Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned the next 24 hours are critical
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the premier said the virus had been contained and there was no need to introduce stay-at-home orders across the state
Authorities believe the family may have been infected by a NSW visitor who stayed at the father’s house overnight on Father’s Day.
‘We also believe that the source of this cluster could be a visitor who came to the family’s home from NSW,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
‘So we are doing further investigations there. But we believe we know at this stage the source of the virus.’
Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young thanked the Sunnybank schoolgirl’s mother for taking her to get tested when she complained of a headache.
Her relative, a worker at Griffith University, also tested positive on Friday.
The university’s vice chancellor, Carolyn Evans, emailed staff on Friday telling them a staff member had also tested positive.
The girl’s school, St Thomas More College at Sunnybank, was abruptly closed on Friday.
All households with a student at the school are now in home quarantine.
The cases come after a NSW truck driver tested positive after he was infectious in the community at nearby Mount Gravatt and Archerfield on Sunday and Monday.
The truckie visited Westfield Garden City shopping centre.
Other close contact exposure sites include a 7-Eleven in Brisbane East, a BP petrol station in Salisbury and an Acacia Ridge cafe.
‘There is no lockdown today but in the next 24 to 48 hours we’ll be closely monitoring the situation,’ Ms Palaszczuk said
The girl’s school, St Thomas More College at Sunnybank, was abruptly closed on Friday
Visits to south east Queensland prisons are now suspended over concerns about the virus.
From Saturday, only essential workers who’ve been medically screened and are wearing masks will be allowed in to prisons from Maryborough south to the border and west to Gatton, Queensland Corrective Services said.
More to come
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