Army personnel asked for availability in 48 hours

AUSTRALIAN miliary reservists and enlisted personnel are being asked about availability in coming days as the spectre of national or state-by-state lockdown looms.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned Queensland communities could face tighter lockdowns in the coming weeks if people continue to flout social distancing guidelines.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned she would do the same after the nation’s death toll hit 13.

Multiple army grunts told the Bulletin yesterday they received messages asking for their availability within 48 hours.

One source said it was not intimated what they were needed for whilst another said they had been “told to be on standby for deployment and based on the information provided that meant there was a lockdown imminent”.

The added they hadn’t been told anything specific but “be ready to deploy imminently”.

Ms Palaszczuk warned specific communities in Queensland could face further lockdowns and restrictions if the situation escalated.

“What you will see from Queensland in the coming weeks and months is that you may see communities or areas that will have more lockdown conditions in their regions.

“We are not at that stage yet, I’m very comfortable where we are. A lot of contact tracing is happening a lot of our numbers are from people who have come from overseas and we are definitely not at that stage yet.

“We are getting ready and can I thank Queenslanders for doing the right thing.”

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young issued an impassioned plea for Queenslanders to stay home, warning people were still going to work with COVID-19 symptoms and later testing positive.

“We are still seeing people go to work unwell for three or four days and then think ‘this might be COVID-19’ and get tested and yes it is and then we have to do an enormous amount of contact tracing, requiring a large number of people quarantined,” she said.