'Do you really need it?' Queensland's top doctor bizarrely calls for locked-down locals NOT to open their front doors or even shop ONLINE until Sunday as 16 new cases are recorded

  • Queensland's latest Covid outbreak grew to 16 cases on Wednesday
  • Dr Jeannette Young urged people to stay home and avoid online shopping  
  • A case in Cairns on Wednesday saw exposure sites spread to the state's north 
  • Police introduced RBT-style road stops to check people's reasons for travelling 

Queensland's top doctor has bizarrely called for locked-down residents to not even order online shopping for the rest of the week. 

Chief health officer Jeannette Young told locals to ask themselves if they 'really needed' to open their front door or go to the supermarket, or buy furniture online.

Queensland recorded 16 new local Covid cases on Wednesday including a mystery case in Cairns that has a different, unknown source to the main outbreak in Brisbane 1,600km away.

The Delta strain outbreak that began last week now has 100 cases in the state, more than at any time since Australia's first Covid wave early last year.

Dr Young pressured residents in the 11 locked down local councils of southeast Queensland to not only stay home, but not give anyone else a reason to go out.

This even extended to online shopping and food delivery drivers, whom she worried would spread Covid as they went about their jobs. 

'I need every single person who lives in the 11 LGAs instead of reading a direction and working out what they might be able to do under that direction,' she said.

'Instead when you open your front door, could you, please, think "do I really need to go outside my front door today?"

'Maybe just stay home because you can only move this virus around if the person moves around.'

Dr Young then pleaded with people to reconsider online shopping and try to get through the rest of the week with what they had in their house.

'I'm a great online shopper,' she said. 'Could you think about whether you need to do online shopping this week? 

'Do you need those people out in the community delivering packages and things? Maybe just leave them for a week. 

'And click and collect - do you really need that furniture that I know you can go and click and collect which is safer, absolutely, than going into the store, but it still means you're putting someone else at risk.

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said Queenslanders should ask themselves whether they really need to go out, or even do online shopping

Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young said Queenslanders should ask themselves whether they really need to go out, or even do online shopping

Dr Young ramped up the pressure on Quenslanders by warning if they didn't 'do something really, really, really special' the lockdown would be extended.  

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath backed up Dr Young's comments and put the onus on Queenslanders to stay home despite official directives. 

'The next five days, it's up to you whether we extend this lockdown,' she said. 

'As Dr Young says, don't worry about what the directives and the law says, do you want to go out and risk getting the virus and bringing it back to your household and risk an extension of the lockdown?'

Ms D'Ath reiterated Dr Young's extreme call to avoid online shopping until Sunday, and only order or go shopping in the most critical circumstances.

'So even if you are ordering stuff online if that means someone's going to have to come to your household to deliver that, to bring stuff into your household. If it's not essential, absolutely essential, just hold off a few days,' she said.

Deputy premier Steve Miles confirmed Queensland's Ekka public holiday next Wednesday had been cancelled and would be moved to a date later in the year

Deputy premier Steve Miles confirmed Queensland's Ekka public holiday next Wednesday had been cancelled and would be moved to a date later in the year

Policemen stop vehicles to check for compliance with lockdown orders at a random pop-up site in Brisbane on Wednesday. Queensland Police announced yesterday it would install RBT-style roadblocks to ensure drivers have a valid reason for travelling

Policemen stop vehicles to check for compliance with lockdown orders at a random pop-up site in Brisbane on Wednesday. Queensland Police announced yesterday it would install RBT-style roadblocks to ensure drivers have a valid reason for travelling

The 16 new cases were linked to the Indooroopilly State High School cluster, bringing Queensland's active cases to 100.

Four cases were linked to Ironside state school including one teacher, two cases to Indooroopilly State High School.

One case is linked to Brisbane Boys Grammar and nine cases, which were close contacts or family members of cases already identified in the cluster.

'That brings this outbreak to 63 genomically linked cases meaning that in less than a week, this has become our biggest outbreak since the first wave last year,' Mr Miles said.   

Mr Miles said the case of a Covid-positive pilot discovered in Cairns on Tuesday afternoon was still under investigation. 

'It's confirmed to be the Delta strain but not linked to the current outbreak in Brisbane,' he said.

Dr Young said it was 'highly likely' the Cairns pilot had acquired the Delta virus while working guiding ships through hazardous waters.

'His family members who live in the same household as him, his partner and child, are negative,' he said.

'But he did take his child to a child care centre so that's why the childcare centre... has been closed while they clean it and assess the risk there.'

Ms D'Ath said there were nine testing sites run by Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, and another 20 private testing clinics in the city and surrounding areas.

Testing clinics in Cairns had been added and hours extended after a positive Delta case was confirmed in a maritime pilot from the city

Testing clinics in Cairns had been added and hours extended after a positive Delta case was confirmed in a maritime pilot from the city

People queue for a Covid test in Brisbane on Tuesday as the south-east Queensland outbreak grew

People queue for a Covid test in Brisbane on Tuesday as the south-east Queensland outbreak grew

Queensland's 16 new local cases remain linked to the Indooroopilly State High School cluster

Queensland's 16 new local cases remain linked to the Indooroopilly State High School cluster

Dr Young said 51,479 people received a Covid test in the past 24 hours. 

She said more exposure sites would soon be listed after a number of the new cases were infectious in the community.

'One had a day out in the community... during the lockdown period,' she said. 'Then another person [was out] for two days, another person for three days [and] one person for five days. 

Mr Miles also confirmed that Queensland's Ekka public holiday next Wednesday had been cancelled.

'It will be rescheduled to some time later in the year,' he said. 'We have not yet determined when.' 

Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said compliance with lockdown orders had improved but 48 fines were issued and four people were arrested yesterday. 

'That includes seven for masks and 34 for general non-compliance with the directions in terms of being out in the community when people did not have a valid reason,' he said.

The four arrests were over a break-in at Heritage Park.  

Queensland has almost 150 close contact exposure sites, with recent additions including Kmart, McDonalds and Aldi in Indooroopilly, a swim school in St Lucia and a netball court in Graceville, as well as a site on the Gold Coast.

Overnight Brisbane Grammar School confirmed its outbreak now numbered five students, one teacher and one parent who caught the Delta strain of the virus.   

Dr Young said on Tuesday she was still uncertain about how the outbreak is linked to the initial two cases who arrived from overseas in late June, as she encouraged Queenslanders to keep testing numbers high.

'It's really important so that we can just make sure that we don't have any other transmission events,' she said. 

There is still hope the lockdown that covers 11 LGAs, from the border with NSW to Noosa, will lift as planned at 4pm on Sunday. 

A cleaner in protective gear is seen at Ironside State School in Brisbane on Tuesday. A number of Brisbane schools had been

A cleaner in protective gear is seen at Ironside State School in Brisbane on Tuesday. A number of Brisbane schools had been 

Health workers perform duties at a pop up Covid-19 testing clinic in Brisbane yesterday

Health workers perform duties at a pop up Covid-19 testing clinic in Brisbane yesterday

'Everyone just stay at home if you can at all, and that way we'll get through this, and we can lift on Sunday. That's absolutely my aim,' Dr Young said.  

Meanwhile, Dr Young changed her tune on the AstraZeneca at yesterday's press conference.

She had long insisted only those aged over 60 should get the AstraZeneca vaccine - despite Australian government advice recently shifting to include younger people.

Even on Monday, Dr Young stood by her position that younger Queenslanders should wait for Pfizer or Moderna because of a rare risk of clotting illnesses.  

'I said I didn't want 18 year olds to have AstraZeneca -- and I still don't. Even now,' she said.

She then nominated 60 as an appropriate age to get the Oxford University-designed vaccine.

But Dr Young appeared to shift away from her harsh previous stance on Tuesday, as the state reported 16 further cases of the highly infectious Indian Delta strain. 

'Now is the time that people who are under the age 60 should be talking to their GP about what is best for them as an individual,' she said on Tuesday.

'GPs know their patients and know what advice to give them'.   

Meanwhile, Queensland Police are installing RBT-style roadblocks to ensure drivers have a valid reason for travelling.

'We'll start RBT-type stops at intersections to check if people are allowed out for a valid reason,' Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said.

'There is nothing to fear if people are doing the right thing.'

LATEST CLOSE CONTACT SITES IN QUEENSLAND 

Mick's Nuts, 31 Hardgrave Rd, West End, 11.19am - 11.30am - Saturday 31 July 2021 

St Lucia Pharmacy, 26 Hawken Dr, St Lucia, 11.20am - 11.30am - Saturday 31 July 2021

Hanaromart Level 1, Indooroopilly Shopping centre, 322 Moggill Road

Indooroopilly, 11.25am - 11.50am - Saturday 31 July 2021

Coffee Mentality, West End Markets, West End, 11.30am - 11.40am - Saturday 31 July 2021

Izakaya Sushu, Level 1, Indooroopilly Shopping centre, 322 Moggill Road, Indooroopilly, 11.40am - 12.05pm - Saturday 31 July 2021

Fresh Berries direct, West End Markets, West End, 11.40am - 11.50am - Saturday 31 July 2021    

Charlie Fruit and Veg, West End Markets, West End, 11.50am - 11.55am - Saturday 31 July 2021 

Trade Winds Seafood Runaway Bay, West End Markets, West End, 11.55am - 12.05pm - Saturday 31 July 2021 

Kmart, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Indooroopilly, 12.05pm- 12.15pm - Saturday 31 July 2021

Juicy Choice, West End Markets, West End, 12.05pm - 12.15pm -Saturday 31 July 2021

Fitzroy Island Adventures, Ferry to Cairns, Fitzroy Island Jetty, Fitzroy Island, 3.45pm - 4.30pm - Sunday 1 August 2021

Hidden Café, 12-14 Deauville Close, Yorkeys Knob, 10am - 12.15pm, Monday 2 August 2021

Bluewater Village Early Learning, 1-7 Maritime Way, Trinity Beach, 12am-11.59pm - Monday 2 August 2021

Hawken Drive Pharmacy, 26 Hawken Dr, St Lucia, 8.13am  - 8.20am - Tuesday 3 August 2021 

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Queensland Covid outbreak continues to grow as 16 new cases announced

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