Borders stay closed as Queensland adds two more COVID cases
Getting into Queensland is set to remain a major hassle.Photo: Getty Photo: Getty
Two more Queenslanders have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 200 hospital staff are in quarantine as the corrective services cluster grows.
A nurse working with infected patients at Ipswich Hospital tested positive for the virus, Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young says.
The other case is the sister of a student at Staines Memorial College, who was already in quarantine.
“We (also) have 222 staff at the Ipswich hospital in quarantine,” Dr Young told reporters on Sunday.
“That means there is some pressure on the capacity of the hospital.”
She said both new cases had links to outbreaks in the Brisbane Youth Detention Centre and Queensland Corrective Services training centre.
“In both situations the people involved have been close contacts,” Dr Young.
“In one, it is a household contact situation … The second case is one of the nurses who has been looking at one of those known cases.”
An Ipswich Hospital nurse is among the latest COVID cases. Photo: ABC
Dr Young reminded Moreton Bay islands residents to get tested if they develop virus symptoms after a Russell Island woman tested positive on Saturday.
The woman, who commuted on a local ferry while infectious, is also part of the corrective services cluster that has now grown to 83 cases.
“I want to commend her for her response,” Dr Young said.
“She has, after hearing all of the messages about if you can’t social distance wear a mask, been doing that.”
It comes as Deputy Premier Steven Miles launched a COVID-19 broadside at the opposition ahead of next months’ election, slamming LNP frontbencher John-Paul Langbroek for urging Queensland’s borders to be reopened.
He said opposition leader Deb Frecklington “should have the guts to sack him from the front bench”.
There are currently 25 active COVID-19 cases in Queensland.
-AAP