Red alert: Infectious traveller spent four hours at Brisbane Airport
A traveller has tested positive for COVID-19 after potentially being infectious at Brisbane Airport for four hours.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.(AAP Image/Darren England)
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said the man transited through Brisbane while travelling from Newcastle to the Northern Territory on Friday.
The man, who was fully vaccinated, was on a “red” flight from NSW, so anyone ending their journey Brisbane would have gone into hotel quarantine.
“We’re just wanting to make sure that that person, in the four hours that they were at the domestic airport, did not move around very far, and whether they went to any food courts or any other areas,” D’Ath said.
“So, please, if you were at the Brisbane domestic airport on the 17th of September, just keep an eye on our website today to see if there is any exposure sites was listed.”
Queensland has also recorded another virus case in a traveller, who had arrived on the flight from NSW, in hotel quarantine.
A third case recorded in hotel quarantine on Monday was overseas-acquired case, while there were no new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 recorded.
Meanwhile, Queensland Health administered 56,907 vaccine doses on its vaccination drive weekend, dubbed “The Super Pfizer weekend”.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said once the Commonwealth vaccination figures from GPs and pharmacies were added, she was confident more than 60 per cent of eligible Queenslanders will have had one dose of a vaccine.
“They’re about two days behind, so we’re pretty confident we’ve clicked over that 60 per cent, which is wonderful,” she told reporters.
“And we have 41.47 per cent of eligible Queenslanders fully vaccinated, which of course is really good news as well.”
The premier urged even more people to get vaccinated due to the risk of a Delta outbreak in the state.
She said getting the jab would help maintain the lifestyle in Queensland, which has few restrictions compared to other states.
“What we’re trying to do here in Queensland is protect our freedoms,” she said.
“In Victoria and NSW, they’re trying to get their freedoms back.
“So you would have heard Victoria talking about having 30 people, or Christmas dinner, we have 100 people allowed to come to your homes at the moment in Queensland.
“We are about protecting our lifestyle protecting our freedoms, and that’s why the vaccination is so important.”
Palaszczuk wouldn’t say whether high vaccination coverage would lead to Queensland winding back its border restrictions on interstate hotspots.
Currently, anyone who has been to a hotspot in the previous fortnight must go into mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the state.
“Well that depends nationally on when the whole of the country reaches a particular (vaccination coverage) threshold, and the Doherty Institute is working on those issues for national cabinet at the moment,” the premier said.
“My understanding is that national cabinet will meet in a fortnight’s time.”
