There were no new COVID-19 cases in Queensland Monday and only one positive Sunday, but authorities are concerned about an alarming number of check-in dodgers.
Authorities are still scrambling to track down dozens of shoppers, including four considered “high-risk”, who may have been exposed to the virus as part of the latest scare at Beenleigh.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says a woman tested negative twice before returned a positive result among 8330 tests in the 24 hours to 6.30am on Sunday.
The woman was already in home quarantine when she tested positive one day after her daughter, who caught the disease from a truck driver, a family friend.
“So they’re already in isolation so that’s fantastic news, and it’s very low risk because she was already in that home quarantine,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
However, there are growing concerns about the lack of check-ins at the Beenleigh Marketplace and a nail salon in the complex, which the infected truckie visited last Monday.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said 74 people who were at the centre, but hadn’t checked in, had come forward through the Queensland Health portal.
She said another eight people were at the salon at the same time as the truckie, but hadn’t checked-in either.
Four are still yet to be tracked down.
Dr Young was worried dozens of people could have been exposed to the virus while visiting Beenleigh Marketplace.
“So I’m very worried that there are a lot more people who went and attended last Monday morning and we need to get hold of you,” she said.
“So we’re using the check-in data that we’ve got, but it’s not enough.”
The premier is concerned that the index case, who transmitted the virus to a truck driver, could also still be infecting people in the community.
“It’s really important Queensland, if you have any symptoms whatsoever, please go and get tested because honestly, we’ve got to find that first case, that’s absolutely crucial,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk has also urged more than 1000 families, ordered into home quarantine after being potentially exposed to the four-year-old girl and her mother at the Windaroo State School and a nearby daycare centre, to abide by health orders.
Dr Young said a Qantas pilot who lived near Kingaroy and flew from Brisbane to Hong Kong and then to Melbourne also tested positive on arrival in Victoria.
He was fully vaccinated and works as a part-time freight truck driver, but had been in the northern NSW town of Tamworth on August 20.
A third truck driver has also tested positive for COVID-19 in NSW after being infectious in Brisbane’s southern suburbs on Thursday and Friday.
Dr Young said she was confident the risk posed by both cases was low.
NSW records 1485 news local cases
NSW has reported 1485 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and three deaths as authorities battle to contain the spread of the virulent delta strain through the locked down state.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 40 per cent of the state’s population was now fully vaccinated.
“That is an incredible milestone to have reached given where we were a few months ago,” the premier said on Sunday.
The three deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday were a woman in her 50s who had received one vaccine dose, who died at Blacktown Hospital, a woman in her 70s who died at Campbelltown Hospital and a man in his 70s who died at Liverpool Hospital, both of whom were unvaccinated.
The death toll for the current NSW outbreak is now 126.
There are 1,030 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 175 in intensive care and 72 who require ventilation.
ACT starting to see ‘good news’
The ACT has recorded 15 new COVID-19 cases, less than half the record amount of 32 reported for the previous 24 hours.
Thirteen of the infections announced on Sunday were linked to previously-known cases.
Six were in quarantine during their entire infectious period, seven spent part of their infectious period in the community and two remain under investigation.
“In good news we have seen a reduction in the number of people requiring urgent medical care,” ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
Victoria may ease regional restrictions
Victoria has 183 more cases of COVID-19 as the state announces additional support for vulnerable community members impacted by lockdowns, and points to a possible easing of restrictions for regional areas.
Health authorities on Sunday reported the additional coronavirus patients, adding that 101 of the cases were linked to known cases and outbreaks.
One of the new cases is a truck driver who visited “a number of interstate exposure sites” and has been in isolation for his time in Victoria, COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said.
Sixty per cent of Victorians have received a first dose of COVID vaccination, Premier Daniel Andrews said.
He added that 29,915 doses were administered on Saturday, which is a weekend record.
The premier expects to announce within days that parts of regional Victoria will be able to ease lockdown restrictions.
NZ awaits decision about alert levels
New Zealand has reported 20 new COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day.
The new infections, all in Auckland, come ahead of a decision from Jacinda Ardern’s government on Monday about alert levels across the country.
Auckland, the centre of the outbreak, will remain in a level four lockdown for at least another week.
The rest of the country is in level three. There are calls to drop to the much less restrictive level two, which would allow most Kiwis to return to work or school.
With the exception of Wellington, officials have not found cases anywhere else in the country.
