Covid Australia: Queensland records 16 new cases as exposure list explodes Tuesday

Queensland’s latest Covid outbreak of the Indian delta variant continues to grow, with 16 new cases of community transmission announced on Tuesday morning.  

Brisbane schools continue to be the focus of the latest outbreak, with one new case linked to Indooroopilly State High School, two cases linked to Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School and three new cases linked to Ironside State High School.

Five new cases are household or family contacts of already confirmed cases. Another was a neighbour of a known case.

The new cases bring the number of active cases linked to the current outbreak to 47. 

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said 34,718 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. 

Mr Miles said hours at Queensland testing sites would be extended and new sites would be opened up. 

Chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said it was ‘pleasing’ that all new cases were linked to the Indooroopilly State High School outbreak but that she still did not know how it was transmitted from two international arrivals. 

She said the threshold for lifting the lockdown next Sunday at 4pm would be the number of cases in quarantine.  

‘On Sunday, we will want to have seen that any new cases that have been coming up have been in quarantine for their full infectious period.’ 

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the Federal government had offered the state 150,000 extra AstraZeneca doses. 

‘That is fantastic,’ she said. ‘We will take them and more.’ 

Dr Young appeared to soften her much criticised earlier advice on AstraZeneca for under 60s in light of the new doses supplied to the state.  

‘The ATAGI advice said that when we reach a large outbreak – which I think that we’re on the verge of [and] I suspect it will become larger, that is the time to discuss that with your GP,’ she said of people receiving AstraZeneca.   

‘This is the time that people who are under age 60 should be talking to their GP about what is best for them as an individual. GPs know their patients and know what advice to give them.’     

Dr Young again urged Queenslanders aged over 60 to bring their second AstraZeneca dose forward and not to visit their grandchildren.

‘Anyone who is 60 years of age or older, please come and get your first dose,’ she said. 

‘If you haven’t had it, and if it’s more than eight weeks since your first dose of Astra, go and get your second dose.’   

Ms D’Ath confirmed that nine of the 16 new cases were school-aged children. 

‘Let’s make sure we’re keeping our children safe and our most vulnerable in the community by staying at home and following the directions,’ she said. 

Dr Young said some of the new cases involved children who had been infectious in the community for the past six days. 

She also confirmed some hospital surgery and outpatient care had been delayed because of the number of health workers self-isolating due to the latest outbreak. 

‘Unfortunately we have well over 400 of our health workers now in quarantine, so last night I had to make a decision – because all of our cardiac surgeons for the children’s hospital were in quarantine – we worked through how we could allow one of them to operate on an urgent case,’ she said. 

‘We will do that every single time. No Queenslander will be denied any care because the health workers they need are in quarantine.’ 

Last night, a prestigious school, netball tournament and a popular coffee shop in three different suburbs were added to Queensland’s spiralling list of Covid exposure sites. 

The new exposure list took the number of sites up past 100 as south-east Queensland endures an extended lockdown.

Seven schools had now been named in the latest outbreak, with around a third of new cases children aged under 10.  

Anyone who visited a Japanese language school at St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School in Corinda, a sporting precinct in Graceville or Roasting Cafe in Yeronga have been told to get a test and isolate for 14 days regardless of the result. 

On Monday night Queensland Health confirmed three Brisbane Grammar School students and a parent had been infected with the Delta variant. 

One case was a student at Brisbane Girls’ Grammar and two attend Brisbane Grammar School.

Popular shopping centre Toowong Village also announced on its Facebook page that a customer who was unknowingly infectious with the virus visited the centre on Friday, July 30.

The customer visited Merlo Coffee between 3.45pm and 4.15pm and Kmart between 4.00pm and 5.15pm. 

Yesterday Dr Young said Queensland Children’s Hospital had been placed on standby as Delta cases among children in Brisbane rise.

‘We know Delta is much more likely to spread amongst younger people,’ she said. ‘In previous outbreaks, we’ve known that younger people have been spared but Delta has a closer affinity to respiratory cells and we know young people are more at risk.’ 

On Brisbane radio on Tuesday morning, Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said 70 infringement notices were issued and 21 people were arrested on Monday under public health orders.

About 15 of those arrested were in relation to anti-lockdown protest activity in the Brisbane CBD yesterday.   

‘We will increase our presence in the community,’ Commissioner Gollschewski said at Tuesday’s Covid update. 

‘Our community can expect to start seeing things like an RBT-type interception of the roads where we will check to see if people have the right reasons to be out and whether they’re going about their business.’  

Experts have urged all Queenslanders to get tested if symptoms arise.  

Yesterday Mr Milles said Queensland’s lockdown would be extended until 4pm next Sunday as a result of the latest outbreak. 

Brisbane’s Ekka show was yesterday cancelled for a second consecutive year.   

Seven of the cases announced on Monday were students from Ironside State School. Another five were related to the school being household members or family contacts.

One case was linked to a confirmed case from the karate school that trains at the school.   

‘For us to come out of this at the weekend, we need absolutely everyone in those LGAs to stay at home if they can,’ Mr Miles said yesterday of the extended lockdown. 

‘It is absolutely critical that people only leave their homes for the four reasons. There’s too many cars on the road in Brisbane at the moment. Too many people out and about.’

Mr Miles confirmed home learning would be in place for the rest of the week for students of Queensland’s state schools. 

He said he knew cancellation of Brisbane’s agricultural show, the Ekka, would be ‘disappointing’.  

‘I know that’s sad and disappointing for many, many Queenslanders who love their annual ritual, their annual trip to the Ekka,’ he said. 

‘We just can’t afford to have an event like that where people travel into town and circulate in large numbers. The risk is just too great.’ 

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick yesterday announced a $260million support package for Queensland businesses.

‘We’ll be opening an 2021 COVID Business Support Program,’ he said. ‘That will be $5,000 grants available to Queensland businesses – not just businesses in the locked down area.

Mr Dick said the grants would also be available to large businesses who operate in Queensland’s extensive hospitality and tourism industries.