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- Queensland authorities will extend Brisbane’s three-day lockdown for another five days amid a jump in COVID-19 cases
- Deputy Premier Steven Miles announced 13 new local cases on Monday and nine cases of the virus on Sunday, many of which are linked to schools
- Six schools in and around Brisbane are considered exposure sites, with 10 of the 13 new cases today linked to children aged under 10 years old
- This the state’s second lockdown in four weeks and the State Government has announced a $260 million relief package for affected businesses
- In NSW, 207 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Sydney on Monday while another man in his 90s died after contracting the virus
Queensland authorities will extend Brisbane’s three-day lockdown for another five days amid a jump in COVID-19 cases.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles confirmed there were 13 new local cases recorded on Monday, while nine cases of the virus were found in the community on Sunday.
Monday 2 August – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 2, 2021
13 new locally acquired cases recorded in Queensland overnight – all linked to the Indooroopilly cluster.
2 new overseas acquired cases, detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/ctRbFI28rl
Areas from the Sunshine Coast down to the Gold Coast were placed in lockdown on Saturday after a number of cases were linked to a schoolgirl who tested positive for the virus last week.
Six schools in and around Brisbane are now considered exposure sites, with 10 of the 13 new cases today linked to children aged under 10.
A total of 31 active cases have been linked to the initial schoolgirl outbreak and Mr Miles explained further lockdown measurer were necessary.
“It’s starting to become clear that the initial lockdown will be insufficient for the outbreak,” Mr Miles said.
“So we’re advising south-east Queenslanders in the 11 LGAs that the lockdown will be extended until 4:00pm AEST on Sunday.”
Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young also raised concerns about how quickly the Delta variant of COVID-198 was spreading in the community.
“We need to lock down really, really hard, the hardest we have ever locked down,” Dr Young said.
“If you don’t need to leave your house, don’t. It is really, really, really important.
“I cannot understand why anyone would be in an office today. If you are in an office today, why aren’t you at home?”
This is the second time in a month Queensland residents have been placed in lockdown, prompting the State Government to announce more financial support.
Treasurer Cameron Dick revealed a $260 million relief package for affected businesses on Monday, with Royal Queensland Show (“The Ekka”) also cancelled.
“We’ll be opening an 2021 COVID Business Support Program. There will be $5,000 grants available to Queensland businesses,” Mr Dick said.
“That recognises the impact that the Delta variant has had on those businesses because it’s stopped the visitors, it stopped the tourists coming from other parts of the country.”
In NSW, 207 new local cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Sydney on Monday while another man in his 90s has died after contracting the virus.
NSW recorded 207 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 2, 2021
Of these locally acquired cases, 105 are linked to a known case or cluster, 92 are household contacts & 13 are close contacts, the source of infection for 102 cases is under investigation pic.twitter.com/FUKl2GTqL2
The State Government has been pushing everyone in NSW to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian argues high vaccine rates were a clear way out of Sydney’s ongoing lockdown.
“August is the month when we should all come and get vaccinated. That protects us and our family, but it also reduces how contagious people are,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We have to focus on workers and people between the ages of 20-40 who are particularly mobile, including in the eight local government areas and we can also sense that what the world looks like on 29 August will be determined by what happens in the next four weeks.”
