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One new COVID case in Qld, as Premier digs in on borders

Queensland's border controls have been some of the country's toughest throughout the pandemic.

Queensland's border controls have been some of the country's toughest throughout the pandemic. Photo: AAP

One new case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Queensland overnight.

The person is a close contact conn

ected to the correctional services training centre cluster.

Health Minister Steven Miles said the person was in quarantine at the time they became infected.

“They’re only thought to have been in the community for just two days,” he said on Monday.

“At this point of a rapid response to a cluster, this is really the best we can hope for – very small numbers of people already identified as contacts and already in quarantine and, therefore, of relatively low risk of continued spread.

“It means we have 27 active cases right now.”

More than 6800 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the result was good news for the state, and reminded anyone with symptoms to be tested immediately.

Unit to oversee travel for medical treatment

Ms Palaszczuk also announced a new unit would be set up within the Health Department, overseen by chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young, to assist with the travel of NSW residents requiring medical treatment in Queensland.

“A hotline will be set up to make sure that we can coordinate with families in a timely manner,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I understand it is a very difficult time for people.

“I also want to have a social worker working in that unit as well because it is a very distressing time for families.”

It was anticipated that the unit would be operational by the end of the week, and would be staffed by clinicians and supported by a social worker.

Mr Miles said “a lot” of applications for medical exemptions were approved.

“Most [medical exemptions] pass unnoticed, and the couple that have been reported on [by the media] are a very, very small proportion of the total number,” he said.

“However, they are too many, and so we want an escalation process so they can be quickly addressed.”

Premier says she ‘won’t be moved’ on border restrictions

Ms Palaszczuk said the border would remain closed “for some time” to protect the health of Queenslanders.

“But we are not going to deny emergency treatment to people in NSW and we are not going to deny specialist appointments to people who need the specialist appointments in Queensland,” she said,

“Queensland will continue to have our borders closed to keep Queenslanders safe, I’m not going to be moved on this,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“The federal government can throw whoever they want at this, Clive Palmer too, but I’m not going to be moved because fundamentally the health of Queenslanders is my No.1 concern.

“You can’t have a strong economy, and the economy growing, unless you have the health under control,” she said.

-ABC

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