Stay the course amid setbacks

AND just like that, eight days of cautious optimism was dealt a cruel blow.

Yesterday’s surfacing of another COVID-19 case, the region’s 33rd on record, ended a brilliant spell of no new cases.

We were even daring to dream about an easing of restrictions in the foreseeable future.

Let’s hope that’s still possible.

This latest case is sure to cause angst in the community; a staff member from the hospital Pathology Queensland laboratory.

Now, extensive contact tracing has begun with dozens facing isolation and the threat of contracting the coronavirus.

Health officials however have said the hospital is safe to visit.

Despite this turn of events, the Far North has done well in its efforts to combat the virus.

Self-isolation has changed everything and there have been great examples of humanity.

This week a survey showed Queenslanders were less satisfied with their State Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis than their interstate counterparts.

And while I have been critical of the Brisbane-centric flow of local information I must commend the extreme efforts our Cairns MP Michael Healy has gone to in helping in this regard.

He and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch and their teams have been working around the clock, agitating within their own parties while locally helping, advising and sometimes just lending an ear to those in need in the community.

They, along with Mayor Bob Manning who has largely been sidelined due to a local government election, are showing leadership in a time we sorely need it.