Queensland has cancelled its public holiday on Wednesday, March 23rd due to the state's largest Covid-19 pandemic since last year's first wave.Yesterday, nineteen new Covid cases in Queensland were reported. Two of these were in return overseas travelers in quarantine.Sixteen new cases were acquired locally and linked to the Indooroopilly cluster, Brisbanes west. This brings the total for the Delta cluster at 63.A pilot from Cairns, who guides ships through the Great Barrier Reef, has confirmed another case.Two people were completely isolated during their infectious period, while one person was active for five days.Steven Miles, deputy premier, stated that there were early indications that the current lockdown in South-East Queensland was working but didn't rule out an extension.Miles stated that while we hope this will be only five days, every time someone leaves their house, it increases the likelihood that this lockdown might need to continue for longer. This is not the right time to purchase outdoor furniture. Sun lounges can be purchased in the summer.Residents from 11 local government areas will be released from lockdown at 4pm on Sunday. Dr Jeannette Young, Queensland chief health officer, stated that this would require high compliance rates and testing.Young stated that I am confident that Queenslanders will continue to do what they are doing, and then just a little more, we can manage this by Sunday.We will extend the lockdown if we don't do anything really, really, truly special in Queensland.Register to receive email updates every morning from Guardian AustraliaYoung stated that the source of Cairns pilots' infection is still being investigated. Genomic sequencing did not show any connection between the Brisbane outbreak and the pilots' case. Its confirmed Delta. Young stated that it is not the Delta strain currently circulating in Brisbane. Young also said that it has not clustered with any other known Delta case in Queensland.Most likely, he has obtained the Delta variant from one of these ships.Young stated that the pilot had been fully vaccinated in March with two doses Pfizer and that testing had revealed low levels of Covid-19 virus. Although Covid can still be contracted by fully vaccinated individuals, it is much less likely that they will become seriously ill or die.On Wednesday, healthcare workers tested members of the public at a pop up Covid-19 testing facility at Indooroopilly State High School in Brisbane. Photograph: Darren England/AAPYoung stated that it was possible to never establish the origin of the Indooroopilly cluster. He said Young could not find any link between the two cases, which arrived in Queensland on 29 June, and the family of five [in Brisbane].They could have contracted the disease at the airport, in hospital quarantine, in the hospital, or in the community.Miles stated that the Ekka public holiday, also known in Brisbane as Peoples Day would be moved to a later date in the year. For the second consecutive year, the Queensland Royal Show, also known as the Ekka has been cancelled.In Queensland, a record 51 479 people took Covid tests within the last 24 hours.Home quarantine instructions are being followed by at least 5,844 individuals, and 9,598 people in isolation. Miles stated that we expect these numbers to be higher.Yvette Dath from Queensland, the health minister, called for the commonwealth to provide the 150,000 additional AstraZeneca doses that it had not offered before next week.The vaccines are administered by two hundred and twenty-four Queensland pharmacies.Despite Victoria's fifth lockdown, Victorian authorities stated that they do not plan to relax restrictions immediately.On Wednesday, no new cases were reported in Victoria. This was the first day that Victoria has been free from a locally acquired disease since its Delta strain epidemic began more than three weeks back.Jeroen Weimar, commander of Covid-19, said that it was a moment for quiet celebration and satisfaction. However, he warned that there was still a lot to do.He explained to reporters that it was a symbol of the end of Covid cases. This means that we are on the right track with our strategy, which we established three to four weeks ago when this outbreak began.However, it has not motivated health officials to propose a review of restrictions. Weimar confirmed that the current batch would continue in effect until 10 August.There are still active cases in our community that we know of... we still have just under 3,000 primary contacts... and there are ongoing risks in other parts of the eastern seaboard.
