SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s Queensland state warned on Tuesday that more cases of COVID-19 were expected to emerge as authorities scrambled to include an outbreak linked to the virulent UK variant, throwing Easter travel plans into disarray.
Officials reported eight new locally acquired cases on Tuesday, taking the total in the latest outbreak to 15 so far. All of the cases were linked to 2 distinct virus clusters, one related to a doctor and the second to a nurse, authorities stated.
“The fact that we have these cases that are linked is good news,” Queensland state premier Annastacia Palaszczuk informed reporters. “Do we expect to see more cases? Probably. Probably, we’ll see more.”
Brisbane, the state capital, has been placed under a three-day lockdown till Thursday, requiring more than 2 million city residents to stay home except for essential work, healthcare, grocery shopping, or exercise.
The restrictions upended vacation plans for 1000’s as the lockdown is scheduled to end just a day before the Easter long weekend and the school term break in Australia, a popular time for vacations.
Several states closed their borders with Queensland, whereas others will require travelers from the virus hotspots to self-isolate for 2 weeks on their return.
Brisbane Airport forecast a steep drop within the number of domestic travelers passing via the airport by the weekend compared with its pre-lockdown expectations.
“This week we had forecast 35,000 to 40,000 per day. However, today this number was closer to 15,000 and we anticipate this may drop to under 10,000 per day by the weekend,” a spokeswoman informed Reuters.
Lockdown and border controls could put the state’s businesses under more strain as the government’s A$90 billion ($69 billion) job subsidy scheme ended on Sunday.
Neighbouring New South Wales (NSW) state, Australia’s most populous, is also on alert after two of the Queensland cases, a nurse and her sister, traveled while unknowingly infectious to Byron Bay, a tourist town just south of the Queensland border and home to Hollywood A-listers such as Chris Hemsworth.
Health alerts have been issued for a hotel, cafe, and restaurant exposed to the virus as officials urged patrons to test and isolate.
Snap lockdowns, social distancing guidelines, and speedy contact tracing systems have helped Australia to include fresh clusters in recent months. It has reported just under 29,300 cases and 909 deaths since the pandemic began.
