Find a better way: PM urges Qld not to force hundreds into Christmas quarantine
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged Queensland to be “more innovative” to ensure two planeloads of people don’t spend Christmas in isolation, after having his own quarantine requirements waived by state authorities.
Queensland Health has ordered all passengers on two flights on Monday afternoon into 14 days self-isolation after a person travelling on both flights tested positive for COVID-19.
The new case travelled on Virgin Airlines flight 1105 from Newcastle to Brisbane then on flight 375 from Brisbane to Townsville on Monday afternoon while infectious.
āWe can confirm a new positive COVID-19 case has been detected in Queensland, which is linked to the exposure sites at the Townsville and Brisbane Domestic Airports and the two Virgin flights VA1105 and VA375,ā the department tweeted on Tuesday night.
Authorities have ā unusually ā classified every single passenger on the flights as a close contacts, meaning they have been ordered into 14-days isolation or quarantine.
Dozens of passengers are facing isolation over Christmas unless Chief Health Officer John Gerrard decides to revoke their quarantine orders beforehand.
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Previously, authorities classified people who were sitting in the same row, or directly in front of or behind an infected passenger as close contacts.
Thereās speculation the unusual step was taken because the case is either a flight crew member or are linked to an Omicron variant outbreak at a Newcastle nightclub on the weekend.
The prime minister, who is visiting Brisbane on Wednesday, should be isolating himself after being listed as a casual contact in NSW.
But he says Queensland authorities have told him heās free to go about his business.
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Morrison appealed to the Queensland government to do āeverything they possibly canā to ensure the two planeloads of passengers and others people donāt spend Christmas in self-isolation.
āItās not Christmas yet for around, almost two weeks, and so PCR testing, being able to look at ways to ensure people will be able to join their families before Christmas, I would hope, was a very high priority for them,ā he told Brisbane radio 4BC on Wednesday.
āI mean, thereās nothing magical about 14 days, but with PCR testing and other things that can be done, Iām sure those who have been caught up in that would be happy to have those tests every single day for five days or seven days to ensure that theyād be able to be with their families.
āThatās a matter for the Queensland government, theyāre the ones whoāve made this decision, but I think weāve got to be more innovative and weāve got to be finding ways to let people re-join the community.ā
Meanwhile, a number of people in the southern Queensland border town of Goondiwindi could also be ordered into 14-days isolation after a known case visited three venues.
The gaming lounges at both the OāSheaās Royal Hotel and the Victoria Hotel, both on Marshall St, have been listed as close contact exposure sites for Monday afternoon, along with McDonaldās Goondiwindi on the Cunningham Highway for Tuesday morning.
Queensland recorded four new cases in quarantine on Tuesday, including one person who has the Omicron variant.
New COVID-19 infections in NSW have jumped by more than 500, as the state braces for further surges with unvaccinated people now free to shop and socialise in NSW.
Some 1360 new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, an increase of 556 on the 804 recorded the previous day.Ā Infections have more than quadrupled in a week, and it is the first time in months the state has recorded more than a thousand new cases in a single day.
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