Lockdown extended for Brisbane as more cases detected
Queensland has recorded three more local cases of Covid-19 with fears of extensive contact in the community from two cases that were detected overnight.
As a result, Brisbane's lockdown will be extended for another 24 hours, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters Friday morning.
"I want to thank everyone for doing the right thing but as you can see we have a situation at the moment that has just come in and we really need to give the people, our contact tracers, [more] time."
Much of the rest of the state will emerge from lockdown restrictions including Noosa, the Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Townsville.
Of the new cases, one is the partner of an airport worker reported yesterday which authorities are not particularly worried about. They believe the partner, who also works at the airport as a baggage handler, was the initial case between the couple and is no longer infectious.
The other two are a mother and daughter pairing from Carindale “who have been out quite extensively around Brisbane,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“So I'm really asking people in the Brisbane City Council and Moreton Bay local government areas, the lockdown will continue for 24 hours.
"Now we will come back early tomorrow morning, once our contact tracers get on top of this and we will look at the case numbers overnight."
Mum and daughter not linked to any other cases
At this stage, authorites have not linked the mother and daughter to other known cases in the state and are desperately working to trace their movements and close contacts.
"I don't know which outbreak they are related to yet," the state's chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said.
"I hope to be able to get genome sequencing from today which will help with the risk assessment which is why I have asked the Premier if we could have another 24 hours of lockdown."
The areas emerging from lockdown in Queensland will still be under restrictions including a mask mandate, a 30 person limit on home gatherings and social distancing requirements in public.
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