Premier’s border plan defiance
Tracers scramble to get ahead in Queensland
PREMIER Peter Gutwein will take his defiant stand on border closures to Friday’s national cabinet meeting as federal colleagues and business leaders urge him to stick to the plan for reopening.
The Tasmanian government won’t consider fully opening borders until 90 per cent of residents, aged 12 and up are vaccinated and 100 per cent of people have had access to jabs.
Mr Gutwein also wants fresh modelling and to see the trend in case numbers in NSW and Victoria before making a decision.
ONE mystery case of Covid-19 could plunge millions of Queenslanders into lockdown as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warns the next 24 hours will be “absolutely critical” to halt the worsening outbreak.
Government insiders insist they have not changed their response to Covid-19, but say face masks, fast contact tracing and increasing vaccination rates have avoided the need for a snap lockdown so far.
South East Queensland remains on a knife’s edge with a growing number of linked community Covid-19 cases rapidly spreading across the Brisbane, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay and Townsville regions.
Sources said the saving grace so far has been that all cases have been traced to their origin within 24 hours.
But authorities say any mystery infections that can’t be linked to known cases in coming days could signal that the virus is spreading through the community unchecked, making a lockdown likely.
To ease the risk of a major outbreak, Sunday’s once-in-ageneration Queensland National Rugby League Grand
Final at Suncorp Stadium will be played in front of a 75 per cent capacity crowd.
The Premier has been forced to hose down claims she is reluctant to call a snap lockdown ahead of the major sporting event and insisted she would take advice from chief health officer Jeannette Young.
“Let me make it very clear that the health of Queenslanders comes first and as soon as Dr Young says we need to move into lockdown, we will,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Queensland recorded six new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.
Four were linked to an aviation worker who first tested positive on Tuesday, a fifth person was detected in hotel quarantine and a sixth person was a woman who travelled from Kyogle in NSW to her home at Camp Hill.
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said an investigation had been launched into how the woman crossed the border.
Police are continuing to probe how a Sydney-based truck driver crossed the border and spent eight days in the Brisbane community while infectious.
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