November 24, 2024

Brisbane and Moreton Bay lockdown to end tonight, five cases of community transmission recorded in Queensland

moreton bay #moretonbay

Lockdown will end at 6:00pm in Brisbane and Moreton Bay after five new community transmission cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says.

The Premier however has warned of multiple new potential exposure sites on the Sunshine Coast.

Queensland COVID-19 snapshot:

  • Confirmed cases so far: 1,712
  • Deaths: 7
  • Tests conducted: 2,944,544
  • Active cases: 47
  • Latest information from Queensland Health.

    She said the community was “not out of the woods yet” and restrictions would remain in place until July 16, including compulsory mask wearing.

    One of the latest cases is a 29-year-old Brisbane man who travelled to Eumundi on June 27, where he also visited Sunshine Beach, Kenilworth and Doonan.

    He is a relative of a woman from Carindale, in Brisbane’s south-east, who tested positive yesterday.

    Another new case is a woman in her 50s from Everton Park in Brisbane who had worked one shift while infectious at the Prince Charles Hospital — not in the COVID-19 ward.

    She had received her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and contact tracing is underway to determine who she had contact with during her shift.

    LIVE UPDATES: Read our blog for the latest news on the COVID-19 pandemic

    A baggage handler in his 50s at the Brisbane Domestic Airport, who lives in Carindale, also tested positive and is not a known contact of any cases.

    He was detected following a testing blitz of 700 workers at the Brisbane and International airports yesterday after a couple who worked there tested positive earlier this week.

    Genomic sequencing is being done to confirm what variant of the virus these cases have.

    Mecca Maxima in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall has been listed as an exposure site.(

    ABC News: Jess Rendall

    )

    “In relation to these last three issues we are very closely monitoring those,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

    “We are doing a lot of work but we believe that our contact tracers can get on top of those issues very carefully.”

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    Another new case was linked to the Portuguese Family Centre cluster, of the Alpha variant, and had been in hotel quarantine during their infectious period.

    The remaining case was reported last night — a man in his 50s from the Sunshine Coast who has also been linked to the Portuguese Family Centre cluster.

    The Queen Street Mall in Brisbane’s CBD, where two COVID-19 positive people visited.(

    ABC News: Jess Rendall

    )

    The mother and daughter from Carindale, who tested positive yesterday and are related to the man who went to the Sunshine Coast on June 27, are also directly linked to the Portuguese Family Centre cluster.

    There were three more returned travellers who tested positive in hotel quarantine overnight, bringing the state’s total to 47 active cases.

    ‘Hopefully it’s our last lockdown’

    Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said “thousands” of people were in isolation after visiting exposure sites, “and it’s going up every minute”.

    “I’d prefer to put more people into quarantine than ask the whole city of Brisbane to be in isolation,” she said.

    “If we’d not locked down for those three days, I suspect we would have had a lot more cases.”

    Queensland Chief Medial Officer Dr Jeannette Young said 15 per cent of people aged over 70 have had their second dose of the vaccine.(

    ABC News: Christopher Gillette

    )

    Deputy Premier Steven Miles said lifting the lockdown was “a huge relief”.

    “There are three things that will keep us out of lockdown: masks, QR codes and testing,” Mr Miles said.

    “If we can keep those up for 13 days, we can avoid another lockdown.

    “Hopefully this will be our last one.”

    What you need to know about coronavirus: Unvaccinated, vulnerable Queenslanders urged to stay home

    Seventy per cent of Queenslanders aged over 70 have received the first dose of the vaccine and 15 per cent have been given their second dose.

    Ms Palaszczuk urged vulnerable, unvaccinated people to limit their outings for the next 13 days.

    “Close family is fine, but please limit and think about whether or not you need to go to a shopping centre, whether friends or family can drop some food over to you,” she said.

    “We do know there is virus out there … so where you can stay home, please stay home.”

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