Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young believes the outbreak that has forced South-East Queensland’s most severe COVID lockdown started on the Sunshine Coast.
Dr Young, addressing media Sunday, said: “it is the Sunshine Coast that I am particularly concerned about.”
She said the latest cases in Brisbane, which involved the highly infectious Delta strain, had the same genomic sequence to two international arrivals who came to Queensland recently and tested positive.
It is understood one was treated at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital and discharged.
“If we don’t find them (the people linking the pair to the Brisbane cases) they will continue to spread it,” Dr Young said.
She said more testing was needed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
“We all need to work together for the next three days if we are going to lift the stay-at-home requirements.”
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Nine new cases were confirmed overnight, all those detected having known links to an Indooroopilly High School student.
This brought the total to 18, which Deputy Premier Steven Miles said was the most new infections in almost 12 months.
The State total has climbed to 1809 cases, with 53 active.
“We have had 11,468 tests in the last 24 hours but our message is this is not enough,” he said.
The Deputy Premier said much more testing was needed, particularly on the Sunshine Coast.
He said that in previous, less serious, outbreaks the testing numbers were double, at about 20,000 per day.
The local government areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, Moreton Bay, Redlands, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Noosa, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim entered the harshest restrictions the sunshine state has seen at 4pm on Saturday.
The lockdown will last for at least three days.
Residents in affected areas can only leave home for essential work, study or child care, to exercise, buy food and supplies, and receive healthcare, including being tested for COVID-19 or vaccinated.
Non-essential travel must be within 10km of residences and everyone must wear a mask when outside their home.
All schools in the lockdown zone will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, while all staff and students of Indooroopilly High School and Ironside State School are in quarantine for two weeks.
Other schools affected by the outbreak include St Peters, Brisbane Girls Grammar School and Brisbane Boys Grammar School.
Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young suspects an infected medical student could be the index case of the outbreak and likely brought the virus into an Indooroopilly High School student’s home.
Sunshine Coast Council Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group chair, Mark Jamieson, said the current intensive lockdown was vital to detect any further positive cases and to minimise the risk of community transmission.
The Mayor urged residents to comply with Queensland Health directions, including handwashing, social distancing, checking in to any venues visited for essential purposes and getting tested.
“Given the particularly virulent strain of the COVID-19 virus that has been detected in South-East Queensland, it is vital everyone complies with the Queensland Chief Health Officer’s directions.
“There is no room for complacency with any of this and I am asking everyone to again do their part to help stop the spread of COVID-19.”
Access to the majority of Council services and facilities will be affected due to the restrictions in place. Visit council’s website for full details.
To limit opportunities for people to congregate and, in the interests of the health and safety of our community, barbecues, play and exercise equipment in council managed parks and skate parks will be closed for the duration of the lockdown.
Council kerbside waste services, such as household rubbish collection, will continue as usual.
Council’s waste facilities are closed to residents for disposal of household waste for the duration of the lockdown period.
Businesses operating essential services are permitted to access council’s waste facilities during the lockdown period and should use cashless payment. Recycling centres will remain closed for the duration of the lockdown.
WHERE TO GET TESTED: http://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/stay-informed/testing-and-fever-clinics
EXPOSURE SITES: qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/current-status/contact-tracing
