Health authorities say they have been impressed with vaccine uptake over the weekend and are urging people to continue to show up to get the jab, with south-east Queensland so far managing to keep another COVID-19 outbreak at bay.
Key points:
- The Chief Health Officer says she's still closely monitoring the southern Brisbane cluster
- Officials upbeat about the uptake of vaccines over the weekend at hubs
- Rugby league fans in central Queensland were able to get vaccinated at stadium before the NRL game
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said on Sunday there was a "sigh of relief" that Queensland had recorded no new community cases.
The state had been on high alert after a family of five on Brisbane's southside has all been recorded as testing positive to COVID-19 just a day earlier.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said while she was relieved there had been no further community spread, she was still closely monitoring the cluster, and urged anyone on the Gold Coast with even mild symptoms to get tested.
"I don't know that we can say we've dodged it yet but I'm hopeful, I'm genuinely hopeful," Dr Young said.
There was more traffic crossing the Queensland-New South Wales border than there had been for several weeks this morning after the border bubble reopened.
Essential workers and students who live in a select bubble of local government areas, including Tweed Shire, will be allowed to travel into Queensland for school, healthcare and caring for the vulnerable.
They must have had at least one dose of vaccine.
The change does not allow for travel across the border for recreational or social visits.
Pop-up vaccine hubs
ABC News: Russell Talbot
)The Cairns Convention Centre opened its mass vaccination hub for the first time this weekend – with staff carrying out 1,190 vaccinations on Friday and 1,377 on Saturday.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service's COVID-19 vaccination program director Kelly Pollock said although the centre had not quite hit its 1,500-a-day target, there had been a "great uptake" and she hoped numbers would continue to ramp up next weekend.
"If you are sitting on the fence and unsure if you want to come and get your vaccine now is the time," Ms Pollock said.
"The vaccine has never been so accessible here in Cairns, we've never offered walk-ins to this extent so please come down."
ABC News: Russell Talbot
)Rugby league fans in central Queensland were able to get vaccinated before the NRL game at Browne Parke in Rockhampton on Sunday, with a pop-up vaccine clinic being trialled outside the venue.
Member for Rockhampton Barry O'Rourke said he thought the trial had been a great success and hoped it would be rolled out to other regions.
"It's a great opportunity to come down and get vaccinated then go down and watch the footy," Mr O'Rourke said.
"This Delta strain is so challenging, it is so contagious and can travel so quickly so now is the time to get vaccinated, it's so important."
Regional vaccine data released last week shows parts of Queensland have some of the lowest full vaccination rates in the country, including townships like Cherbourg and Yarrabah.
'Please keep coming forward and getting vaccinated'
ABC News: Kimberley Bernard
)Dr Young said she was confident the family of five that tested positive on Saturday had contracted the virus from one of three men who entered Queensland from New South Wales then visited the family.
Two of the men who crossed the border had tested positive, but Dr Young said she was confident there had been "minimal exposure" to the Queensland community, but was urging vigilance.
"They had not been around and about so that is good news," Dr Young said.
"They had been down in the Gold Coast, so I would ask that anyone in the Gold Coast, any symptoms at all, no matter how mild please come forward and get tested.
Dr Young said the two positive cases who entered Queensland had now returned to New South Wales, while the other man tested negative and is in-home quarantine with his family.
Police were investigating further but Dr Young said she understood the three men had followed correct border protocols to enter Queensland.
Dr Young said there had also been a suspected historical case detected – a miner who returned to Charters Towers and Townsville in north Queensland after working in West Africa.
"We'll do some more investigations there, but I'm not concerned," Dr Young said.
"He was getting tested again on his way out of the country to go back to West Africa and tested positive, but he had been in quarantine in Sydney and tested negative there then went home and has subsequently tested positive, so I think that's some persistent shedding, I'm not concerned about it."
ACB News: Russel Talbot
)Truck driver who was in Queensland tests positive
Another truck driver who had been in Queensland tested positive in New South Wales.
"On the 7th and 8th of September this truck driver came into Queensland while infectious and travelled through Brisbane so we'll just be checking any exposure venues from that truck driver," Dr Young said.
Dr Young urged all Queenslanders to continue wearing masks and following restrictions.
"We won't need to do it for too much longer because soon we will have everyone vaccinated," Dr Young said.
"So please keep coming forward and getting vaccinated. Every single day we're seeing more people get vaccinated and that's fantastic.
"The sooner we've got the vast majority of Queenslanders from 12 years of age and older vaccinated we'll be able to remove the restrictions."
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2021-09-12 20:19:13Z
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