Covid Australia Annastacia Palaszczuk hits Queenslanders with new restrictions after four new cases

Six new cases of coronavirus have Queensland on high alert just days before the NRL Grand Final in Brisbane after a truckie drove around the state while infected.

Masks will now be mandatory indoors again in Brisbane and the Moreton Bay area in response to the latest outbreak. 

Truck drivers using the state’s freight pass will also be required to have at least one vaccine dose by October 15, and double-dosed by November 15. 

The escalating crisis could see the landmark grand final being moved from Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium to Townsville if health officials fear the risk is too great.

The NRL have drawn up contingency plans as an emergency back up if Brisbane is hit by a sudden outbreak that can’t be contained in time. 

Six new cases of coronavirus have Queensland on high alert just days before the NRL Grand Final in Brisbane after a truckie drove around the state while infected but premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) insisted: ‘There is no need to panic.

 QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insisted though: ‘There is no need to panic.

‘We have been here before. South-eastern Queenslanders will rise to the challenge once again.’ 

Two of the new cases were overseas acquired, and one is an international traveller who tested positive after they came out of hotel quarantine. 

But the remaining three  – a husband and wife and a truck driver – are concerning Queensland health officials. 

A mystery case of coronavirus has put Queensland on high alert just days before the state is set to host the NRL Grand Final (pictured, health care workers in Brisbane)

The new Covid-19 case comes just days ahead of the NRL Grand Final between the Rabbitohs and the Panthers (pictured) to be hosted in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Sunday

The truck driver was active in the community for a week before testing positive. The Brisbane guest house where he was living has now been sealed off.

Adalong Guest House in South Brisbane – across the road from a school and adjacent to a major hospital – is under police guard with more than a dozen residents put into isolation and being tested.

Further details will be revealed by the state’s chief medical officer Dr Jeanette Young later on Tuesday morning, but roadside vaccination clinics are being set up around the state specifically for truck drivers.

The new site is not linked to an infected man in his 30s who works in the aviation industry which was reported by Queensland Health on Monday night. 

The Mother Duck Childcare and Kindergarten (pictured) in northeast Brisbane was attended by a positive Covid-19 case last week

Health officials are struggling to identify how he came to be infected. He has not been overseas and has had no known contact with a Covid case. 

His wife has also now also tested positive, sparking an alert at a childcare centre in the city. 

Mother Duck Child Care in Eatons Hill in the city’s north-west has become a contact site after the infected parent dropped off their child there last Thursday morning.

A McDonalds and two busy shops have also been added to a late night list of close contact sites in the Sunshine State.

Latest Covid exposure sites in Queensland:

Albany Creek. McDonalds Albany Creek Drive Thru. 768 Albany Creek Rd. Thursday 23 September 2021 from 5.05am – 5.10am. Low risk contact   

Eatons Hill. Mother Duck Childcare & Kindergarten. 6-12 Bunya Park Dr Eatons Hill, Queensland 4037. Thursday 23 September 2021 from 7.25am – 8am. Casual contact 

Rocklea. Seats ‘R’ Us. 1/1620 Ipswich Rd , QLD 4106 . Thursday 23 September from 11.15am – 11.45am. Close contact

Aspley. Freedom Furniture 815 Zillmere Rd Brisbane. Thursday 23 September 2021 from 4.40pm – 5pm Casual contact

Parents of children who attend the Mother Duck Childcare and Kindergarten were sent a letter advising them a Covid-infected person had visited the centre. 

Graham Nielsen, a physician from the Metro North Public Health Unit told parents a Covid-positive aviation worker had come into contact with the centre on September 23.

The worker is believed to have visited the site unknowingly infected with Covid-19. 

Anyone who attended the childcare centre, 10km northeast of Brisbane’s CBD, from 7:25am to 8:00am last Thursday is considered a casual contact of the virus. 

Those who attended the centre at the listed time has advised to immediately isolate, get tested and quarantine until a negative result is received. 

A number of visitors will be contacted directly by health officials to be placed into immediate quarantine, the statement read.  

A busy McDonalds in Albany Creek (pictured) has been listed as a new Covid-19 exposure site

A Freedom store in Aspley (pictured) has been attended by a positive case of Covid-19 with those that attended at the listed times now considered a casual contact of the virus 

A ‘Seats R Us’ in Rocklea (pictured) has also been put on high alert after the shock detection of a positive Covid-19 case in Brisbane 

A busy McDonalds in Albany Creek, around 20km from the city, has also been listed as a new exposure site, as well as a furniture store a short distance away in Aspley.  

A ‘Seats R Us’ in Rocklea has also been put on high alert after the shock detection of a positive Covid-19 case in Brisbane. 

‘A public health alert is being issued for locations in Eatons Hill, Albany Creek, Aspley and Rocklea following a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Brisbane,’ a statement from Queensland Health stated on Monday night.

‘The source of infection is under investigation. The man in his 30s works in the aviation industry, with no recent history of overseas or interstate travel.’ 

The new infection comes just days ahead of the NRL Grand Final to be hosted in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, October 3.

The highly-anticipated decider will feature a clash between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers.  

Townsville is on standby to host the match as the NRL contingency plan, but the premier insisted Brisbane would still be holding the game at the moment.

‘Therre has been no discussions with the NRL,’ Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday morning. 

‘When my phone rings, I’ll be updayting people but there is no concern at the moment.’ 

Tickets for the premiership decider between South Sydney and Penrith at the 52,000 capacity stadium in Brisbane have already sold out.

At this stage the NRL is not overly concerned about a last-minute switch to Townsville, but the next 48 hours will be critical. 

Should a lockdown be announced in the coming days the NRL would then pull the trigger and relocate the season finale to Townsville for the first time.

Townsville’s stadium has a maximum capacity of 25,000 people, less than half of the crowd that Suncorp will hold if the game is able to go ahead as planned in Brisbane.

Queensland previously reported zero new cases of coronavirus on Monday, with the new detection to be reported in Tuesday’s tally (pictured, health care workers in Brisbane)

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