Delta blockbuster races the country against time

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In an overnight update that severely increased the risk in Queensland, health officials confirmed that unvaccinated women at the state’s latest Covid-19 panic center traveled the state with the highly contagious Delta variant for ten days.

Concerns about the infection of a single case — a 19-year-old hospital worker traveled to Townsville from Brisbane — prompted the authorities to put most of the state under a three-day lockdown.

Strain confirmation Same as the variant that caused Sydney to enter lockdown and infect millions of people around the world, contact trackers have been placed in the Sunshine State, racing against time.

When many Queenslanders wake up First day of lockdown, The authorities are desperately hunting down everyone she comes into contact with during her journey.

This Overnight, the list of exposed sites in the state surged With this announcement-there are new alerts for flights, supermarkets and restaurants across the state.

The wide geographic distribution of exposure sites poses an additional challenge, as the Brisbane case traveled citywide before going on vacation to Townsville and Magnetic Island. Two family members and a close friend of the woman also fell ill.

Even before news last night that the mysterious case around Queensland contained a delta variant, the state’s governor was angry.

Ms. Palaszczuk said she was “very angry” at this situation.

She said the woman had symptoms for the first time last Monday, but it took another week before she came forward for testing. She worked two shifts at Prince Charles Hospital and vacationed in Townsville and Magnetic Island while being infectious.

Ms. Palaszczuk said that due to the rapidly changing situation, she had no choice but to implement a blockade.

“The risks are real and we need to act quickly,” the prime minister said yesterday. “We need to work hard, we need to move fast.

“This is absolutely essential, and we want to make sure to stop the virus from spreading. It’s really important for everyone to do the right thing. I know Queenslanders will. These are hard decisions.”

The announcement means that southeast Queensland, Townsville, and the Palm Island and Magnetic Island areas will be locked down for three days from 6 pm tonight to Friday.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said that the woman’s time in the community posed a “significant risk”, although she did not know at the time whether the woman was infected with the highly contagious Delta strain.

She urged everyone on Magnetic Island-about 2,000 people-to be tested urgently, whether they have symptoms or not.

The woman went to Sandgate Woolworths on Sunday and then to Bay Health Gym.

She works at Prince Charles Hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday, and takes flight VA369 from Brisbane to Townsville on Thursday.

Before heading to Magnetic Island, she spent an hour at the Brewery Cafe at the airport.

The woman returned to Townsville from the island on Sunday, then went to the market, and then flew to Brisbane on VA374 on Sunday.

One of the new cases disclosed on Tuesday was related to a mining group from the Northern Territory, while the other was described by the governor as a brand new community infection case.

“I’m not sure how they got it,” Ms. Palaszczuk said.

She said she is concerned about the multiple sources of infection threatening the state-mining areas, an infected flight attendant on five Virgin flights, and outbreaks in Portuguese restaurants.

“Then I got the fourth case. It might be related to that case through the Portuguese restaurant cluster, or it might be related to one of the overseas travelers who were sent to Prince Charles Hospital, or it might be another connection I found. Just now. Start working,” the prime minister said.

The 11 local government areas in southeast Queensland affected by the stay-at-home order are Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Scenic Area, Lockyer Valley and Somerset.

The four approved reasons for leaving home during the lockdown period include:

  • Buy necessities, such as groceries or medicines
  • If you can’t work or study from home
  • Work out locally
  • Medical care or provide help, care or support

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said: “One of them is basic work that you can’t do at home, or basic learning that you can’t do at home.”

“You can go wherever you usually go to do important, critical work, critical research, so you can leave home for these reasons.

“If you have a responsibility to take care of the disadvantaged, you can leave home and go there.

“Then, of course, you can leave home to buy necessities-that is, food and medicine, so they are necessities, and of course you can leave home for your own basic healthcare.”

Queensland has become the fourth jurisdiction to be blocked after Western Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

Can access the complete list of exposure sites Here.

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