Two COVID exposure sites have been listed on the Sunshine Coast as one new locally acquired infection was recorded in Queensland.
Anyone who visited Bunnings Maroochydore on Dalton Drive on Monday 6 December over a four-hour period from 4.45am to 9.15am is urged to get tested.
The other exposure site is the IGA in Buddina on Point Cartwright Drive listed for Sunday 5 December between 6pm and 6.45pm. The shop has been closed for deep cleaning.
Both locations are considered low risk however Queensland Health’s media team did not have any information on which case the exposure sites are linked to.
The alert comes as Queensland recorded one new case of locally acquired coronavirus — a man on the Gold Coast who is linked to three existing cases in the city.
It’s believed he may be the index case for that cluster as he recently travelled to NSW.
“There is still a risk on the Gold Coast because there are a number of these positive cases that have been in the community for a number of days,” said Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.
Vaccine mandate rules
Meanwhile, the State Government has unveiled its health directives for vaccine mandates in hospitals, schools, child care centres, prisons and venues, which come into effect on December 17.
Ms D’Ath said everyone who works in those sites will need to be fully vaccinated, along with people who enter any venue.
“When you walk up to that door and you see that sign that says ‘this is a vaccinated business’, if you choose to walk past that sign unvaccinated it is you that are breaching the rules, it is you that is committing an offence and there are consequences to it,” she said.
An offence of spitting, coughing or sneezing deliberately on people or threatening to do so will also be extended to people working in cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, theatres, cinemas, museums, libraries and sports stadiums.
The minister said anyone caught doing that to workers on sites with mandates will receive an on-the-spot fine of $1378.50.
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Small Business Minister Di Farmer said businesses and workers will also be offered training in dealing with unruly patrons after December 17.
Earlier on Tuesday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was time to put criticism of border closures “behind us” as the state prepares to reopen to all of Australia at once for the first time in 229 days.
The state is scrapping quarantine from 1am on Monday for all fully-vaccinated domestic travellers from virus hotspots who test negative.
There will be no restrictions on travellers who have not recently visited hotspots, meaning it will be the first time Queensland has been open to all Australians since April 28, when it shut its border to Greater Melbourne.
Ms Palaszczuk did not say whether she regretted the border closures, particularly those preventing end-of-life visits.
“It’s been difficult for everybody. My job has been to keep Queenslanders safe, and whilst I might have been criticised in other parts of the country, people in my state have not been critical,” she told Nine’s Today program.
“Now is the time we all put that behind us and we look forward to reuniting loved ones and having a beautiful Christmas together.”
When asked if Monday would be the end of domestic border closures, and whether the state was open for good, Ms Palaszczuk said, “We hope so”.
With 78.67 per cent of Queenslanders over 16 fully vaccinated and 87.37 per cent having had at least one dose, the premier said the state should be ready.
-with AAP
