Police to ramp up patrols

POLICE are ramping up patrols to ensure Townsville residents comply with mandatory mask directions after a man with Covid-19 was found to have been infectious in the community for eight days.

Townsville Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said he was confident people would abide by the new restrictions, which came into place at 4pm on Thursday.

“We’ll be out and about ensuring that people are complying with the direction. We will also be at the testing centres and the vaccination centre, just to make sure that people have been orderly,” he said.

The new restrictions come after a middleaged aviation worker travelled to Townsville and was infectious in the community for eight days.

He is linked to a cluster that started at an aviation meeting in Brisbane last week.

The man arrived in Townsville on September 21 and was taken to hospital on Wednesday night, where he tested positive for Covid-19.

Superintendent Hanlon said hoped people would get behind the chief health officer’s new direction to keep the community safe. He said police would investigate any reports of breaches.

“This is all about keeping Townsville people safe, it’s all about making sure that no one else gets Delta or gets any other variant of the Covid-19 strain in Townsville.”