Qld demands PM ‘step up to the plate’

On January 29, 2020, a public health emergency was declared in Queensland, after a 44-year-old Chinese national at a Gold Coast Hospital became the first case of the novel coronavirus in the state. A day later, the World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak was a “public health emergency of international concern.”A year on, Queensland has recorded 1307 cases of the virus which has infected more than 100 million people worldwide and resulted in more than two million deaths.

The vast majority of Queensland’s cases have been detected in returning travellers in hotel quarantine despite more than 1.7 million tests, but the Premier wants further tightening on those facilities to keep infectious strains from seeping into the community. Taking to social media on Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk marked the one year anniversary to tell her constituents how “proud” she is of the way Queenslanders “collectively responded to the COVID-19 global pandemic,” but urged the Federal Government to step up further. “As we look ahead to 2021, the only predictable thing about COVID-19 is its unpredictability, as shown by the highly infectious UK strain which has now reached Australia’s shores. “Just as we weren’t willing to take chances when we declared a public health emergency 12 months ago, we are not willing to take chances when it comes to keeping new and more infectious strains out of Queensland. “That’s why I am publicly calling on the Prime Minister to take greater responsibility for international quarantine … A national quarantine plan would mean proper Commonwealth funding as well as adequate Defence Force and Border Force resourcing.”

She said the state-run program was “first class” and had served the state well since its inception last March, but now was the time for the Commonwealth to “step up to the plate.”“All ideas must be on the table as we contend with these new highly infectious strains,” she said. Earlier this month, Ms Palaszczuk put a proposal of “centralising quarantine for returning international travellers” on the table, suggesting the use of mining camps in Gladstone and Toowoomba be used instead of hotels in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Cairns CBDs.

It came after a cluster emerged at a Brisbane hotel quarantine facility, which saw the B117 strain of the virus spread from two returning travellers to a cleaner, her partner, and two other guests at the facility. It sparked a three-day lockdown of Greater Brisbane and spawned a 10 day mask mandate. “Consolidating quarantining into fewer sites that are more centralised will help reduce the ever-increasing risk of transmission and deserves to be considered,” Ms Palaszczuk said on Friday.“With potentially another unpredictable year ahead of us, now is the time for the Prime Minister to step up to his responsibilities and put in place a well-funded, adequately resourced, nationally consistent international quarantine plan.”