Queensland has recorded two new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 with both already in home quarantine.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the two cases are linked to a mother and daughter from Carindale, in southeast Brisbane, who tested positive last week.
She says both cases, one in their teens and another in their 20s, were in home isolation when they tested positive and had been isolated since July 2.
"So we have absolutely no concerns about these two, so this is fantastic news," Ms Palaszczuk said.
The premier also defended Queensland Health's handling of an exemption application by Australian expatriate Andrew McCormick.
Mr McCormick's terminally ill mother died in a Queensland hospital while he was stuck in hotel quarantine in Sydney after arriving from Canada, where he lives.
He said he had been given permission to leave NSW but Queensland Health would not allow him to travel because he had not yet returned a negative test.
"These are supposed to be compassionate policies, I think these policies are very confused about what compassion means," he told Nine's Today program.
Ms Palaszczuk said her "heart goes out" to Mr McCormick.
"Look, to lose someone so close is just awful," she said.
"I mean we all lose relatives, it's not nice, and it's not nice during a pandemic."
However, the premier defended the state's protocols for granting compassionate exemptions.
She said Queensland Health staff were dealing with hundreds of applications as quickly as possible.
"They're humans that are trying their very best, and they realise that these are real people with real families, real issues. They're not just pieces of paper, they're people," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"And they're trying to process them and keep Queenslanders safe, but process them in a timely manner, and unfortunately in this case it just didn't occur in time."
Meanwhile, the state government clarified why about 10 Sunshine Coast University Hospital staff has been ordered into 14-day isolation after saving the life of a COVID-19 patient on Wednesday.
The patient was being prepared for an MRI scan when they had an allergic reaction to the dye, causing them to go into anaphylactic shock.
Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the staff, who were vaccinated, were wearing full PPE as they raced to stabilise the patient.
"They immediately self-reported that they were concerned that their PPE might be compromised and sought advice as to whether they should be quarantined or not," Ms D'Ath told reporters.
"So they have gone above and beyond. I want to thank them, I want to thank all of the health workers that work in COVID wards and around our hospitals, because their jobs are not easy."
Queensland has now mandated that all students doing placements in restricted hospitals, aged care providers, and disability care providers must be fully vaccinated.
Ms D'Ath said about 5700 people were quarantining at home and 3137 were in hotel quarantine across the state.
Queensland also reported one new case of COVID-19 in hotel quarantine.
Australian Associated Press