NSW has recorded 1431 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and a dozen deaths, while Queensland has a тАЬdouble doughnut dayтАЭ with zero new cases.
NEW South Wales has marked its deadliest day with 1431 new local cases of Covid-19 and a dozen deaths, while Queensland has a тАЬdouble doughnut dayтАЭ with zero new cases.
Premier of the southern state Gladys Berejiklian said she expected NSW cases would peak in the next fortnight.
It comes after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced zero new cases at a coronavirus press conference in Brisbane earlier on Friday morning.
ThereтАЩs 18 active cases in Queensland and 16,613 tests were conducted in the previous 24 hours.
Ms Palaszczuk defended raising concerns about the fate of unvaccinated children aged under 12 once Queensland opens up on the back of a satisfactory vaccination rate.
тАЬLetтАЩs have a conversation about it,тАЭ she said.
тАЬThere are legitimate questions that Queenslanders and Australians want answers to.
тАЬWeтАЩre not against the national plan.тАЭ
Ms Palaszczuk pointed to the United States and claimed тАЬa lot more children are presenting with Covid and a lot more children are ending up in ICUтАЭ.
тАЬNational cabinet has agreed to look at the issue,тАЭ she said.
тАЬNow there is evidence coming out from a whole range of states where this is a concern for young children.тАЭ
Ms Palaszczuk conceded when questioned by journalists she was speaking of a тАЬworst case scenarioтАЭ.
тАЬThis is an awful, awful virus. This is something we donтАЩt want to see our hospitals overwhelmed with,тАЭ she said.
тАЬWe don’t know about the new strains, the new mutations. There wasnтАЩt a Delta strain six months ago.тАЭ
Ms Palaszczuk again said the New South Wales government was not playing ball when it came to moving the Queensland-NSW border checkpoints south.
She said Queensland was тАЬtrying our hardestтАЭ but there was no тАЬmovementтАЭ from NSW.
Ms Palaszczuk also announced 600 more hotel quarantine spots would be offered to Queensland families stuck in NSW and Victoria from Monday, after 50 rooms are made available on Saturday.
However, 3000 border passes were cancelled when Queensland paused the hotel quarantine program last week.
тАЬAs you did know, we did have a pressure cooker situation,тАЭ she said.
Ms Palaszczuk did apologise for letting NRL officials and families fly into the state while the pause was in place.
She said it was тАЬnot the right thing to doтАЭ.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles accused the Morrison LNP government of a тАЬpile-onтАЭ attacking the Queensland Labor government and said тАЬweтАЩre one of the few states complying with the national planтАЭ.
тАЬDonтАЩt fall for Scott MorrisonтАЩs marketing tactics,тАЭ he said.
Health Minister Yvette DтАЩAth joined her colleagues in urging Queenslanders to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Queensland had one local case on Thursday, linked to a Logan truck driver, 46, who went to New South Wales and was infectious without knowing from Saturday to Wednesday.
It was also revealed on Thursday a family whose children attend the Australian International Islamic College on the Gold Coast travelled home from Melbourne on backroads.
The family has since tested negative for the coronavirus.
The school was temporarily shut, but will reopen Monday after a scheduled student free day on Friday.
Queensland Health advised of new exposure sites at Archerfield, Beenleigh, Bundamba and Goondiwindi.
Mayor Tom Tate pleaded with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk tonot put the Gold Coast back into a full lockdown.
тАЬI urge state health officials and the Premier to not overreact by bringing in a citywide lockdown,тАЭ he said.
Cr Tate suggested lockdowns could be implemented on a suburb-by-suburb basis.
Queensland has recorded 1982 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, 1929 patients have recovered and seven have died, according to the government.
luke.mortimer1@news.com.au
Originally published as Covid-19: NSW records 1431 new Covid cases and 12 deaths, while Qld records zero new cases
