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A cluster of five new infections in Brisbane may require a lockdown in Queensland, the Australian head of state said. The application of containment measures in other regions of the country has already sparked much debate.
There were eight cases of Covid-19 detected in Queensland on Saturday, including five local transmissions, provincial health authorities reported. The latter are all members of the same family in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, which was “very good news” according to Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk.
“In the next 24 to 48 hours we will be monitoring the situation closely and if we start to see seedlings we may need to take very quick action,” she said.
Palaszczuk called on the Queenslanders to “intensify” by strictly following health guidelines and getting tested if they have symptoms of Covid-19, even mild ones. The five cases in Brisbane were detected after a mother decided to test her 13-year-old daughter, who complained of headaches, said Jeannette Young, chief medical officer.
Australia has taken a containment approach to managing the pandemic, working to cancel community transmissions with severe local lockdowns. Such measures are currently in place in New South Wales (NSW) and in the cities of Melbourne and Canberra.
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However, there is growing public resentment towards the restrictions, especially since their enforcement has been quite severe. Emblematic of the situation has been the reaction of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott to a fine this week for not wearing a mask in public.
“I think that as soon as we can leave this sanitary state of mind behind us, the best for everyone”, he told the media. “If you walk down the street and see someone walk out of their house without a mask and call the police, well, frankly, that’s just Stasi-like behavior.”
Abbott was directing his anger at a woman who took pictures of him on a beach while he was not wearing a mask and reported him to police on Friday. She called the accusation of the ex-PM that “dobbing and snitching” was contrary to the Australian character “absolute hypocrisy” because “He continually called on Australians to grope people” when in power.
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The politician said he would not challenge the fine, which stands at AU $ 500 (US $ 370), even though he believed he was “Well within the limits of the law, reasonably interpreted” because he didn’t want to waste the police time.
The cluster of infections in Queensland, which may trigger a lockdown in the state if the virus spreads further, is believed to be from neighboring New South Wales. A man from there visited family in Queensland last week and has since returned to his home country. His test results were not available on Saturday.
Queensland has 21 active cases of Covid-19 and has recorded seven deaths linked to the disease since the start of the pandemic. The state, which has a population of around 5 million, has administered more than 1.5 million doses of the vaccine.
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